Returning Home
by Whovianeverlark17
Summary: When two decidedly human girls get sucked into a world that is decidedly not their earth, where they no longer are humans themselves, things get a little messy. And that's before they meet a hobbit who looks strangely familiar. And a company of dwarves determined to reclaim their home. Now they have to decide what on Middle Earth is going on, and what can they change, if anything?
1. Chapter 1 - Beginnings

"I'm going to need you to listen to me now, okay, sweetheart?" Samara clutched her daughter's small face in her hands, her fingers trembling.

The little girl nodded, her chubby face puckered in confusion and fear. "Amad, what's going on? Why did Adad stop?" she asked fearfully. "Where did everyone go?"

Ignoring the questions, Samara continued. "I need you to take your sister's hand when I tell you to, and I need you both to run to the trees over there, where you're both going to climb a tree and hide there until your adad or I come find you, all right? It's just like the games we played back home. Do you think you can do that?"

The little girl nodded again, tears filling her round eyes as her mother lifted her sister off the pony. "Amad, I'm scared," she said with a sniffle.

"I know you are, honey. I am too. But you'll be all right. I promise."

A deep voice broke into their conversation. "Samara, send them off. They need to go while there's still time." A heavyset figure knelt in front of the two girls, his normally rough voice gentle as he spoke. "You two are going to have to be very brave now. Your amad and I have to go. Can you be brave for me?" The two girls nodded, forcing back sniffles. Giving them a small smile, Thokar kissed them both on the forehead, before whispering something into their ears and getting up.

Moving to his wife's side, he gently laid his forehead against hers. After a moment, he laid his hand upon her cheek and gently kissed her. "I'm sorry it had to end like this," he said softly.

Samara smiled at him through tears. "At least it will be together," she returned, voice thick.

Thokar nodded. "Together." Taking one last look at his wife and daughters, he said, "I'll see you all in his halls." Drawing his axe from its place in his belt, he turned and strode around the large boulder they had been hiding behind.

As soon as he had turned around the bend, Samara knelt in front of her daughters. "Girls, I need you to run now. And don't look back, no matter what you hear. Either of you. You _keep going_. Do you understand?" They both nodded unhappily. "Good," their mother said, smiling weakly through her tears. "Remember, your adad and I love you very much. Don't _ever_ forget that. Now go!"

Galvanized by their mother's urgency, the two girls took off running on the opposite direction of their parents, towards the forest a short distance away.

Waiting until they were out of immediate earshot, Samara whispered, "I'm sorry. I love you both. May he keep you safe when we can't." Drawing her sword and a dagger, she turned and left to join her husband. She'd sworn to always stand by her husband, no matter the cost, and she would keep that promise now.

xXx

The girls were almost to the woods when the howling started. Worn out by fear and adrenaline, one of them faltered.

"Don't stop, Cel! Amad said we have to keep going!" her sister reminded her, glancing behind them nervously.

Picking up the pace, Cek answered her sister reluctantly, "I know, I know."

Forcing themselves to keep going, a loud shout from behind them distracted Cel, causing her to stop and look behind them again. Nothing could be seen, but loud howling and vicious shouts and snarls could be easily heard.

Shivering again, her eyes filled with tears, Cel turned back to the woods, only to meet an empty clearing. "El?" she asked with a quavering voice.

There was no answer.

Cautiously stepping into the dark forest, she immediately felt a deep fear come over her. "El?" she called again.

The only response her words echoed back at her mockingly.

Following her sister's footprints, Cel made her way further in to the forest. "El, please come out! This isn't funny!" Cel shouted, near tears, thinking that perhaps her sister was playing a trick on her again. She slowed to a stop when she saw a curious bare patch up ahead.

There were dark and menacing trees all around her, along with some of the biggest spider webs she'd ever seen, but there was nothing in this patch. Not even grass. Just a large, circular patch of dirt. She stepped towards it curiously, but whipped back around when a branch snapped behind her.

"El?" she asked nervously, voice trembling, scanning the brush for any signs of life and seeing none.

Until a hideous black spider that was larger than any she had ever seen lowered itself from a tree and crept towards her menacingly, long legs swiftly covering the ground between them. Cel screamed in fright and and stumbled back a few steps, into the bare circle.

No sooner had she fallen into the circle than she felt a sucking sensation drawing her backward. The spider, seeming to sense its prey was escaping, began rushing towards her. Cel screamed again, only for things to quickly get worse when the sucking sensation began to increase.

The spider rapidly dwindled in size as the scenery around her began to change, and morphed into a barrage of images at a dizzying speed. An intense force pulled her in a thousand different directions at once, and, overcome by the events of the day, Cel lost all sense of consciousness and blacked out.

xXx

"My sister and I were found, unconscious, in the backyard of a deserted house about fifteen years ago. We were found by some kids who were sneaking through to have some fun. They called the cops, who took us to the hospital where we woke up about three days later, with no knowledge of where we were, or any memory of what had happened to us. The authorities searched for our parents for a while, or for anyone who knew us, but didn't find any one.

"My sister and I were too little to really know what was going on, or to be of much help. Eventually we were placed in an orphanage, only to be left homeless once again a few years later when the orphanage was burned down by a... a problem. No one was hurt, but the orphanage had to ask people to take us in temporarily until it could be rebuilt. We were lucky. We got taken in by a woman who was very kind to us, and decided to adopt us. She became our mother"

A high pitched voice broke into Celia's story. "I like your mommy, Miss Celia. She's nice. She gives me cookies!"

Celia smiled down at the little boy she was babysitting. "She is very nice. She loves us very much, and we love her."

Jimmy Forner stuck his lower lip out in concentration. "Your mommy is nice. But I think my mommy is nicer. She loves me THIS much!" he explained seriously, throwing his arms open wide.

Celia laughed, sweeping her black braid over her shoulder. "Your mommy does love you very much. And so does your daddy. But right now, I think it's your bedtime. Time to get ready for bed!"

Jimmy's big blue eyes widened. "Nooooo!" he shouted, taking off running down the hall.

Celia laughed again. He did this literally every time she came over to watch him, and always seemed so surprised when she caught him.

xXx

Half an hour later, Celia leaned against a wall to catch her breath. Jimmy seemed to be learning, because it had taken her an extra ten minutes to find him and get him ready for bed before finally getting him to fall asleep. Glancing at the clock, she realized that his parents would be home soon, and she still needed to get the house cleaned up from earlier. Moving swiftly around the room, she managed to put the last toy away just as his parents pulled into the driveway.

"Hey, Celia! How did your evening go?" his mother asked as they walked in, setting her purse on the table. "Did he get upset when we left again?"

Celia smiled. "He was too busy showing me his new Lego tower to notice, I think. It went great. Oh, and he didn't run into the bookcase this time, so it actually went even better than last time!"

Jimmy's parents laughed. "Well, thank you for agreeing to watch him on such short notice," his father said, handing her two twenty dollar bills.

"No problem," Celia said, pulling on her coat. "Tell Jimmy I left a surprise for him in his toy box."

"Sure thing," Mr. Forner said, opening the door for her. "Have a nice night."

"Thanks, you too!" Celia smiled, heading out the door.

Once outside, she took a moment to enjoy the spring breeze. The snow had melted by now, and the grass was green, but flowers were less common than they would be a few weeks from now, and the evenings were still a bit chilly. Turning on her flashlight, she headed for her house, a large two-story building a few blocks away, on the edge of town.

It was a quiet evening, and few cars drove by as she walked, allowing her to think without distractions as she walked almost on autopilot, hardly paying attention to where she was walking. The story she had told Jimmy tonight was mostly true, but there were a few points that she had left out.

One was that the orphanage that she and Elena had stayed in had been burned down by a drunken arsonist, not a "problem."

Another had been the fact that there were no footprints leading to their bodies when they were found... It was like they had just appeared there out of nowhere.

"Hey, you planning on coming in, or are you just going to keep on walking forever?" Another voice broke into Celia's thoughts. Looking up, she saw her sister Elena, short brown hair only slightly held back by a pair of bobby pins, standing in the doorway of their home.

"I _was_ deep in thought, before you so rudely interrupted me," she said with a mock pout.

Elena laughed, her warm brown eyes crinkling as she did so. "Deep in thought about what? The stuff you still need to pack for our camping trip tomorrow?"

Celia gasped, her green eyes reflecting her dismay. "The camping trip! I forgot all about it! I still have to pack everything!" She ran her hands through her hair, ruining the neat braid.

Elena smirked. "I know. That's why I decided to be the older sister today, and pack for you."

Celia shook her head. "Thanks. I guess you deserve it - today, at least."

When they had been found, they were obviously sisters, and had appeared to be the same age, so it was assumed that they were twins as well. Since they didn't know who was older, they had eventually set up an agreement that whoever was more responsible that day would be the older sibling for the day. It was an odd quirk, but their adoptive mother, Laurel, had quickly grown used to it, and had taken up the practice as well.

She snapped her fingers, suddenly remembering. "Did you remember to pack my bow and arrows?"

Elena nodded, amusement flickering in her eyes. "Just like I did every other time I had to pack for you. And my axes."

Their mother had been rich enough to send them to a private school, where they were able to be tutored in many different areas. But when she offered to let them take sports, they had both declined and chosen a different field of interest instead: weapons.

Celia had chosen to become an archer, whereas Elena had taken the slightly more unique route of deciding to become proficient in using two smaller axes. Though neither could explain their choice at the time, at approximately 20 years old they were both skilled at their weapons of choice, and used it in the occasional hunting trip as well.

Well, Celia did, at least. Elena's axes weren't the best for hunting, so she typically stuck to stationary targets or used her knives.

"Are you both going to stand there letting the cold in all night?" A third voice broke in, with enough humor in it to let them know that the speaker wasn't angry.

Both girls turned sheepishly to their mother. At forty-five (at least, that's what she told them), she looked every bit as young as she did the day they met her thirteen years ago.

Tall and beautiful, with every bit the elegance of a queen, Laurel Owens had never shirked from getting her hands dirty, even encouraging the girls in learning woodcraft and helping Celia with her archery at times. Her backstory was a bit of a mystery as well, but the girls had eventually given up trying to find out and just dubbed her a runaway princess and left it at that.

"Sorry, Mom," Elena said repentantly.

"Me too," Celia added sheepishly.

Laurel shook her head with a small smile before ushering them into the warm house. Shutting the door behind her, she turned to Elena and asked, "Did you remember to pack flashlights and extra batteries?"

Elena started to nod but then stopped. "I packed the flashlights, but not the batteries. I can't believe I forgot them again!" Shaking her head at her forgetfulness, she hurried up the stairs to her room.

Celia grinned at her mother before quickly following her upstairs to their shared room. There had been plenty of room for them to each get their own, but they had insisted on sharing, having been used to it for as long as they could remember.

She walked inside their room to see Elena packing the batteries into their waterproof case before stuffing it into her backpack. A similar backpack was sitting on her bed on the other side of the room, with her bow and quiver of arrows lying next to it. A list of checked off items sat beside it. Pulling her long hair out of its braid, she began to brush through it as she watched her sister zip the bag shut with a satisfied nod.

"Finished at last," she declared proudly. "All we have left is the water, and we can get that in the morning."

"Great!" Celia said. "We still have a couple hours before we should hit the sack. What do you want to watch, a couple episodes of BBC's Sherlock, or the last Lord of the Rings movie?"

Elena thought about it for a minute before answering. "Let's watch the Return of the King. We watched the Hobbit trilogy, and the first two movies a couple weeks ago. We can watch Sherlock when we get back."

Celia nodded. "Sounds good to me," she agreed easily, grabbing the movie off the shelf next to its companions, and sticking the DVD into the player before settling down next to her sister to watch the movie.

xXx

The next morning, both girls were up bright and early, wanting to get a good start to their day, as they would be walking to their campsite several miles away, in a small forest near their town.

"How do you want your eggs, Elena?" their mother asked as she grabbed a carton out of the refrigerator.

"Scrambled, please," Elena said.

"And me," Celia chimed in, grabbing a piece of toast and buttering it.

Breaking the eggs into the pot, Laurel said, "Are you sure that you have everything? Rain coat, sleeping bags...?"

Celia nodded, her mouth full of toast. Swallowing, she added. "We packed the tent, too. But we still have to attach the sleeping bags to our backpacks to make it easier to carry them. I'll go do that."

Shoving another bite of toast in her mouth, she bounded up the stairs to go do her appointed task. By the time she got back, the eggs were done, and Elena was eating them as quickly as she could, eager to get started.

Quickly finishing their breakfast, both girls got up and carried their dishes to the sink. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom really quick, then we can go," Elena said, leaving the room.

"I already went," Celia added, looking up at her mother with a smirk. " _I_ was responsible."

Both Celia and her sister were rather short, measuring up to just under 5'1", while their mother was unusually tall, being almost six feet tall. It got them a few odd looks from strangers, but they had all gotten used to it, and no one really cared about it anymore aside from the odd short joke here and there.

Elena reappeared, her backpack on, and hair pulled back carefully. "I'm ready to go if you are, sis," she said to Celia.

She nodded. "Let me grab my backpack." Darting upstairs, she swung her backpack on, made sure that her braid was secure, and ran back to the kitchen where her mother and sister were waiting, before all three went to the front door to say their goodbyes.

"Bye, Mom," Celia said, hugging her mother. "I love you."

"And I love you," Laurel smiled, kissing her on the forehead before releasing her and embracing Elena. "Whichever of you decides to be the older sister today had better be really responsible."

"I will, I promise," Elena said, smirking at her sister, who looked offended at the notion that she couldn't be responsible. "Love you, Mom."

"And I love you," Laurel returned warmly, letting her go with a kiss to the forehead. "Have fun, but be careful. I know you're bringing a cell phone for emergencies, but still please be responsible. And remember, while both of you have taken first-aid courses, Celia has completed her training to be a paramedic, so she'll be in charge in that department should the need arise, although I hope it doesn't."

Now it was Celia's turn to smile smugly at her sister. Although neither of them really cared who was the "older sister," they did have a friendly rivalry going at almost all times that occasionally exasperated their mother with their antics.

Hugging their mother one last time, both girls set off down the dirt road, whistling the 'Hogan's Heroes' theme song as they went. Waving goodbye as they left, Laurel watched until they vanished from sight, whispering a soft, "Please be safe," before heading inside and shutting the door softly.

xXx

It was almost supper time by the time they reached the forest, but both girls were in good spirits and more than ready for supper. Picking out a good site for a campground, Elena began gathering wood for a fire while Celia prepared the food.

"Hey Celia, can you hand me one of my axes?" Elena asked. "This branch is too big, and I'd rather use my axe to cut it than try to break it."

"Sure," Celia agreed, putting down the meat she had been preparing, and grabbing an axe out of the sheath Elena kept it in. Handing it to her sister, she turned back to the food. "The hamburgers are almost done. Is the fire ready?"

"Almost," Elena answered distractedly. "I just have to light it... and... done!" she exclaimed triumphantly as a blaze appeared suddenly. Placing a grill over the fire, she took the prepared hamburgers from her sister and carefully set them on the grill.

"I'm going to go rinse off my hands," Celia said, rising from her kneeling position and heading towards the sound of a nearby river.

"OK. Be careful," Elena called absentmindedly, still focused on the meat. Celia rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. Elena had sounded just like their mother when she said that.

When she got back, carrying a bucket filled with water, Elena didn't take her eyes off the fire, watching the burgers carefully. "Did you take a bath? I've already flipped the hamburgers in the time you were gone. And they take forever to be ready to flip." She glanced sidelong at her sister. "Almost as long as you in the shower."

"Very funny," Celia deadpanned. "I've got some water." Setting it by the fire, she sat down next to her sister and waited for the food to cook.

Although it took far longer than they wanted it to, the hamburgers finally cooked, and both girls dug into the juicy meat placed on fresh buns bought from the store the day before. After finishing their meal and rinsing their plates, Celia set up a few targets for her and her sister to practice with before bed. Grabbing their weapons, the two lined up in front of their respective targets and began to fire.

"You know," Elena commented as she hurled her axe into a log, "It's kind of funny how both of us are bookworms, but we both love using weapons as well."

"I say it's because our birth parents were secretly ninjas," Celia said, firing her arrow at a small tree branch. "And we inherited their love of fighting, or something."

Elena paused in her throwing to look at her sister. "Right. Because ninjas love axes and arrows. They're _totally_ inconspicuous weapons."

Celia shrugged, putting down her bow. "All I'm saying is, I've never seen a ninja with a bow. I've never seen a ninja either. Therefore, logically, ninjas have bows and arrows." She grinned when her sister rolled her eyes. "Let's go grab our stuff."

After practicing with their weapons for another hour, the girls set up their tent before relaxing around the fire, soaking up its warmth as the temperature began to cool off. Elena sketched in a notebook she had brought along, filling it with all sorts of doodles, while Celia read a book she had been working on for the last week.

Eventually it got too dark to focus, and both girls reluctantly put their books away. After roasting marshmallows, which quickly led to a marshmallow fight with no declared victor, both girls were exhausted, especially after their long day's travel, and fell into their sleeping bags and were asleep within minutes.

The next morning, after an ice cold swim in the river that left both of them shivering, Celia grabbed a knapsack out of her backpack, and began stuffing items into it. "I'm going to try and go hunting for a couple hours. Maybe bring down a couple rabbits for supper, or something."

"Okay," Elena nodded. "I'm probably just going to try and sketch by the river. The scenery there is gorgeous."

"Have fun sketching," Celia called, grabbing her bow and quiver along with the knapsack and heading out. "I should be back sometime after lunch."

Waving good-bye, Elena grabbed her sketchbook and pens and headed down to the river.

She had only been sketching for about fifteen minutes when a terrified scream disturbed her concentration.

"Elena, help me!"

Dropping her sketchbook, Elena scrambled to her feet. "Celia, where are you?" she called frantically, running back to the campsite.

"Elena! Help!" Celia's voice was getting fainter. Grabbing her axes from where they lay, Elena raced into the forest, trying to follow the sound of Celia's voice.

"Celia, are you all right? Where are you?"

But only the mocking echoes of her call answered her.

She called repeatedly, but her sister had fallen frighteningly silent. Spotting Celia's footprints, she quickly followed them. Calling as she ran, heedless of the branches that smacked her face, she came to a halt suddenly as the tracks seemed to disappear.

Looking around her, she noticed that she was standing in a bare patch of dirt, a large circle where nothing seemed to grow. Getting a bad feeling, she tried to leave, but found she couldn't. Instead, a strong tugging sensation knocked her onto the ground.

She gasped, trying to stand back up, but the sensation was getting stronger. In fact, she felt herself being pulled backwards at a rate she could barely comprehend as the trees around her merged into a blur. Holding desperately onto her axes, she tried to lift her head against the strong current, but felt her head forced back down as the force only increased exponentially, unable to even draw breath to scream.

Bright colors began racing in front of her at a bewildering speed, pulling her body in all directions. Just when she began to think that it would never end, she felt the pressure begin to lift, and the images begin to slow, only to be slammed into an immovable object with such force that she blacked out, her limp form crumpled on the ground next to her sister.

* * *

 **A/N: To be continued...**

 **Translations:**

 **Amad: mother**

 **Adad: father**

 **Updates should typically be posted on Wednesday nights.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, it belongs to JRR Tolkien**


	2. Chapter 2 - Found

~~Celia~~

"Goodness gracious, Miss, are you all right?"

The concerned voice penetrated into the thick fog that was swirling around in Celia's mind, swirling the clouds away and leaving a dull throbbing in its place. She groggily opened her eyes, but the blinding light shining directly into her retinas made her instinctively close them again. She waited a minute for them to adjust before carefully opening them again.

A middle-aged man with curly hair was bending over her, looking very worried. She carefully sat up, then pressed a hand to her aching head.

" _Ouch_ , that hurts. Where am I?" she asked groggily.

The older man looked startled. "Why, you're in the Shire, Miss. Did you not know that?"

Still half out of it, Celia just stared at him for a minute, uncomprehending, before the words finally processed. "Shire? As in, hobbits of the Shire?"

The man furrowed his brow but nodded. "That's the one. Are you sure you're all right? You seem rather confused."

Celia squinted up at him. "I'm not sure. My head really hurts, and I'm not sure how I got here, but other than that I think I'm fine."

Kneeling down next to her on one knee, he asked, "What's the last thing you remember? Maybe that will help us find some answers."

Thinking hard for a minute, a few images and snippets of memories came into Celia's mind. "I was in the woods with my sister. I was doing something... hunting, I think. But then... something happened. I don't remember what. But I was really scared. I was calling for my sister to help, and she was answering me; I think she was coming to help me, and then..." She put a hand to her forehead in frustration. "I don't remember anything after that."

The man looked over at something beside her. "Well, I found these beside you. You said you were hunting. Are they yours?" he asked, holding up a bow and quiver.

Celia's eyes widened in relief at the sight of something familiar. "Yes! That's my bow and arrows!" Taking the bow from the man, she inspected it carefully, gently rubbing her fingers along the bowstring.

Inspecting the quiver, the young man said, "I don't believe I've seen a bow or quiver quite like this before."

"It was a gift from my mother for our birthday a few years ago." Celia murmured distractedly, still focused on the bow. "Elena wanted an axe really badly, she always has, the weirdo, so she got a pair of smaller axes."

She stopped short, realizing what she had just said. "Elena - she was looking for me!" Looking up at the man with wide eyes, she said urgently, "My sister - she could be nearby, have you seen her? She's short, like me, with short brown hair, and brown eyes."

He shook his head sympathetically. "I'm afraid you're the first young lady I've seen in such a state today. Would she be around here?"

Celia shook her head. "I don't know. I still don't know how _I_ got here." She paused. "Can you help me up? I need to try and find her."

The man hastily helped her to her feet. "Of course! Pardon my bad manners. My name is Bilbo Baggins," he said apologetically, bowing slightly.

Celia did a double take. "Did you say - B-bilbo _Baggins?_ "

Giving her an odd look, he nodded slowly. "Yes, Miss. Bilbo Baggins, Master of -"

"Bag End of the Shire," Celia finished for him, only now noticing his bare feet, and the curly hair covering the tops of them. Bilbo gave her a slightly disconcerted look, though still maintaining his polite demeanor.

"Yes, Miss. Pardon my asking, but have we met before?"

Shaking her head slowly, her brow furrowed, Celia said, "I don't think so. At least, I'm pretty sure we haven't. But I knew that somehow." She looked at Bilbo with a troubled expression. "I have the strangest feeling that none of this is real, or that none of this should be here. That _I_ shouldn't be here."

She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, and swayed on her feet a little. Bilbo steadied her with a hand, his suspicion fading to concern as he saw she was still in pain.

"Well I can assure you, Miss, that this is quite real. You're standing near the edge of Hobbiton, in the Shire. Today is the 21st of September, according to Shire reckoning."

"My name is Celia," Celia answered distractedly, her gaze focused on a large bush a few yards away, where a lump of fabric stuck out from behind. "Uhm, Bil - Mr. Baggins, do you... see something behind that bush?"

Peering at the aforementioned bush, Bilbo said, "I do believe you're right, Miss Celia. Do you think it's something important?"

"I don't know," Celia answered slowly. "But I think I need to check it out."

But she had only taken a few steps when her legs gave way and she collapsed onto the ground, her head only kept from hitting the hard dirt by Bilbo, who had rushed forward to catch her as soon as he saw her start to fall.

"You're clearly in no condition to walk at this moment, Miss Celia," he said, gently lowering her to the ground. "Let me check it out for you. I'll let you know what I find."

Celia acquiesced reluctantly. She wanted to check it out too, but her aching head and still wobbly legs forced her to acknowledge that it was perhaps for the best that she stayed behind.

Bilbo walked cautiously to the bush before peering around it, as if there might be a monster behind it. His expression changed rapidly as he knelt down, half of his body hidden by the large bush.

"I believe I've found her, Miss Celia," he called back to her. "She is unconscious, as you were when I found you, but she appears to be otherwise unharmed." He reappeared from behind the bush, carefully pulling her unconscious sister with him.

"Elena!" Celia called excitedly, forcing herself to her feet and stumbling over to her sister and Bilbo. "Elena!" she said again, dropping to her knees beside them. Aside from her unconscious state, Elena appeared to be otherwise unhurt, much to her relief.

Turning back to the bush, saw Elena's axes lying a short distance away. She could only assume that her sister had grabbed them when she had cried out for help. She turned back to her sister in time to see her beginning to stir, thanks to Bilbo's administrative efforts; which mainly consisted of wetting a handkerchief with some water and gently patting her face with it.

"Mmph," Elena murmured, trying to knock away Bilbo's hand with her own, but failing, mainly due to the fact that her hand never reached her forehead before falling back down to the ground as she returned to her unconscious state. Celia leaned over her concernedly, checking her pulse with one hand and giving her a brief examination with the other while doing so, before leaning back, satisfied that her sister wasn't too badly damaged.

"I've been trained a bit in medicine," she told Bilbo. "She seems all right for the most part, but she seems to have hit her head on something, because I think she might have a minor concussion at the least. I can't tell more until I can give her a more thorough examination. Is there some place we can take her?"

Bilbo thought for a moment before answering. "We're closest to Hobbiton, so I can just take you there. Once you and your sister are fixed up, I can take you to Bree. Hopefully some hobbits there will be able to recognize you."

Celia frowned. "But... we're not hobbits. Why do you think the hobbits there would recognize us?"

Bilbo looked startled. "Oh, I beg your pardon. I just assumed, since you were too short to be a human, and were in the Shire, that you were some hobbit lass who'd had some misfortune befall her while she was out wandering the Shire. I was too worried about you at first to notice, but I see now that you wear shoes on your feet, your ears are not pointed like ours, and your hair color is also uncommon among hobbits," he said, nodding towards the mentioned appendages.

Celia couldn't help but feel vaguely insulted. "But Mr. Baggins, what makes you thing I'm too short to be human? I mean, I've always been short, but I'm not _that_ short."

Bilbo paused, a concerned frown appearing on his face, before he seemed to come to a conclusion. "Miss Celia, would you stand up for a moment?"

Celia gave him a puzzled look but obliged. Her eyes widened when she did so, for she was only a few inches taller than Bilbo Baggins. Who, if her slowly returning memory told correctly, was a hobbit who could not be taller than 3'6" at the very most.

"I've shrunk," she muttered dazedly. "It's like _Alice in Wonderland_ , only this time it's me who's fallen through the looking glass; and I can't wake up from this dream."

She looked up to find Bilbo staring at her with a very confused look on his face. "Miss Celia, if I may ask," he said with some hesitation, "What are you talking about? I'm afraid I don't quite understand."

"No," Celia said with a sigh, "I don't expect you would." Looking down at her sister, she added, "Could we perhaps get moving? I think I can walk now, and I'd like to check on my sister as soon as possible, and then I can explain. I owe you that much, at least, after all that you've done for us."

"Of course," Bilbo said apologetically, politely ignoring the last part of her sentence. "I apologize for the delay. Your sister is more important than satisfying my curiosity."

Kneeling down next to Elena, he brought the still unconscious girl to a sitting position, before slinging one of her arms over his shoulder.

"Wait!" Celia said suddenly. "I have to get her axes! She'll be really upset if she wakes up and finds out that I left them here!" Grabbing the two small but sharp axes from where they lay, she sheathed them and stuck them in her quiver along with her bow before slinging it onto her back next to her knapsack, and heading back to the patiently waiting Bilbo. Placing Elena's other arm around her shoulder, they carefully got to their feet, bringing her with them, her feet dragging slightly on the ground.

Following Bilbo's directions, they got onto the path, which was only a few feet away from where Celia had woken up, and began heading toward Hobbiton.

"We can just take her to my house," Bilbo told her quietly. "I have plenty of room, and I can have the healer come and check on you both. You needn't worry about gossip, or propriety. I'm sure there'll be some talk, of course, there always is; but I'm a confirmed bachelor, and a Baggins of Bag End. So you need not worry about any sort of unpleasant rumors getting started, at least."

Celia smiled at Bilbo gratefully. "Thank you, Mr. Baggins. And I promise, once I've checked on Elena and made sure she's all right and resting comfortably, I'll give you the full explanation. Or at least, as far as I can make of it."

Bilbo nodded slightly in acknowledgement. "I won't deny that I look forward to hearing it. It promises to be an interesting tale."

Celia nodded wearily. "I believe it is, Mr. Baggins, I believe it is."

xXx

Thankfully they were not too far from Hobbiton, so they didn't have to walk too far. There were a few odd looks, as Bilbo had predicted, but only one hobbit actually came up to them.

"Pardon me, Mr. Bilbo, but is everything all right? I don't mean to be overstepping my boundaries none, but the young lass seems to be a mite unwell," the hobbit said, twisting his red cap between his hands.

"Both the young lady and her sister have taken a bit of a spill," Bilbo informed him. "Could you run and fetch Mrs. Labilee?"

"Of course, Mr. Bilbo, sir!" the hobbit said, shoving his cap on his head and taking off down the hill.

"That was my gardener, Hamfast Gamgee," Bilbo said. "An excellent hobbit, but a bit of a stickler for being 'respectful-like,' as he likes to say, to his employers. He's gone off to fetch the healer. You may still desire to check your sister for yourself, but Mrs. Labilee is the best healer in the Shire, and it would be best if you could be checked out as well."

By now they were at the top of the hill, and approaching a gate leading to a small circular door set in the hill. Making sure he was still supporting Elena, Bilbo carefully pushed open the gate before opening the door to his home.

"There's a guest bedroom along this hallway, Miss Celia," he said, leading the way to a finely furnished bedroom. After getting Elena onto the bed, Bilbo hurried around lighting a few candles strategically placed to give the most light to the room.

"Thank you, Mr. Baggins," Celia said gratefully.

Bilbo nodded. "Of course, it's what any decent hobbit would have done."

Just then a knocking sound was heard from the front of the house, startling them both.

"Oh! That must be Mrs. Labilee, the healer. I'll go fetch her," he said, leaving the room and bustling down the hall. A moment later he came back, bringing with him a kind-looking elderly hobbit woman, who more fit Celia's idea of a relatively-young grandmother than a doctor - or healer, rather, as it seems to be here.

"Now, then, what seems to be the trouble?" the healer asked, her piercing blue eyes sweeping the room, taking in both Celia and Elena in at a glance.

Glancing at Bilbo, Celia said, "Umm... my sister. I think she hit her head, and she won't wake up. I'm pretty sure she has a mild concussion, but I'm not sure about anything else." Seeing the old woman give her a curious glance, she added, "I've been given some training in the... uh... healing arts."

As if satisfied with her answer, the old woman nodded and bent over her sister while Celia waited anxiously. The hobbit may have been on the elderly side, but Celia could see a sharpness and confidence about her that belied any misgivings her age may have induced.

After a careful examination, the healer looked up and said, "I believe the young girl is correct in her diagnosis. The patient -"

"Elena," Celia interjected, unable to help herself.

"Elena," the old woman continued without missing a beat, "seems to be fine for the most part. The only thing I can't understand is her lack of consciousness. There's no real reason why she shouldn't wake up right now, if all she's suffering from is a bump on the head. The only thing we can do is keep her nourished with water and some broth until she wakes up." Celia nodded.

"Thank you, Mrs. Labilee. I'm very grateful."

"Oh, it was no trouble," Mrs. Labilee said. "Let me know if she hasn't woken up in a few days."

"Oh, excuse me, Mrs. Labilee," Bilbo said, getting the healer's attention before she could leave. "But Miss Celia was also unwell when I found her. If you wouldn't mind...?" he asked.

"Of course." Mrs. Labilee turned around. "Take a seat in the chair, won't you dear?" she said to Celia, gesturing to a comfortable-looking chair near the bed. Celia took a seat reluctantly.

She hadn't been fond of doctors or nurses ever since she was little, right after they had been found, and it had taken two nurses five attempts between them to draw some of her blood for more testing.

She may have decided to become a paramedic, but she had avoided doctor's visits and shots whenever possible ever since. Elena had had to sit on her more than once when they were little and she was sick, in order to get her to sit still enough for an examination or shot.

Sensing her discomfort, the old woman smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, dear. It won't hurt a bit. I've been doing this long enough that I think I could take a nap, and my fingers would still know what to do."

Though still a bit ill at ease, Celia couldn't help but smile at the healer, and tried to relax. To her surprise, the examination was over in minutes, and, true to the healer's words, it hadn't hurt in the slightest.

"Well, dear," Mrs. Labilee said. "It looks like you're all right for the most part. I don't know what you two poor girls have gone through, and I shan't pry, but I'd say that all you need now is some hot food and a good night's rest."

"Thank you for coming so quickly, and on such short notice," Bilbo told the healer gratefully. "What do I owe you?"

"Oh, pssh." Mrs. Labilee shook her head, waving her hand in the air. "Just bring me a pie from one of your mother's recipes some time, and we'll call it even. It's been far too long since I had one of your mother's pies."

"All right, Mrs. Labilee," Bilbo smiled. "I'll bring one over this week."

Mrs. Labilee beamed at him. "Well then, that's that. I have to go check on Mrs. Proudfoot, though. She's almost due with another little one. Barely a month left, I'd say."

"Well, let me see you out," Bilbo said. Turning to Celia, he added, "I'll be back in a few moments. Feel free to make yourself comfortable." When Celia smiled in grateful acknowledgement, he turned and escorted Mrs. Labilee into the hallway.

While he was gone, Celia knelt over the still form of her sister. Carefully looking her over, she ended up with the same conclusion as the healer. She couldn't help but take her pulse again, just to feel the beating of her heart. Her sister was normally never this still, even when she slept.

Not this completely motionless.

Laying her head on the bed, she whispered, "Oh, Elena. If only you were awake to see this. We're in Middle Earth - the Shire, with Bilbo Baggins, of all people! It seems as though it has to be a dream. But it's not. And I don't know how we got here, or how to get home. Please wake up, Elena," she pleaded. Swiping at her eyes just in case, she sat up just in time to see Bilbo knock on the open door to announce his arrival before entering the room.

"Does your sister seem all right to you?" he asked, nodding towards Elena.

"Yes. Thank you so much, Mr. Baggins. Is there an inn in Hobbiton where I might take her? I don't want to intrude on your hospitality any longer, especially after all you've done for us," Celia said.

Bilbo shook his head. "There is the Green Dragon, but I doubt you have the money to stay there; and besides. It could be dangerous to move her. Why don't you just stay here until your sister's up and about again? It'll be no trouble to me, as I live here alone. That is, if you feel comfortable with doing so," he added hastily.

Celia smiled at him gratefully, blinking back a few tears. "Oh, thank you Mr. Baggins. To be honest, I have no money, and hoped to work to keep us at the inn until she woke up. Is there any way I could repay you?"

Tilting his head to the side thoughtfully, Bilbo said, "Well, I think all I want right now is the explanation you promised me. We'll see if you owe me anything after that. I don't believe so, if your story is as interesting as it promises to be."

"All right," Celia smiled. "But you best take a seat. It's a long story." Taking a seat on the other side of the bed, Bilbo sat back and waited expectantly. Taking a deep breath, Celia began. "Our story, as far as we know of it, begins on a night long ago, when we were found unconscious in the back yard of an abandoned house on a dark night..."

xXx

Bilbo was silent for a few moments after she finished. "That is certainly a most interesting tale, Miss Celia," he said at last. "And I'll not deny that had I only heard your story, and not met you in the woods, I would have had a hard time believing it. Tales of another world, where _my_ world is only a children's tale; where only humans exist, and can travel great distances in a day... it seems a difficult story to believe."

Celia looked at him incredulously. "You mean... you believe me?"

Bilbo sighed. "It seems madness, but yes, I do. Your lack of knowledge when I found you was genuine, as was the shock at your apparent height change. Yet once you knew my name, you suddenly knew facts that most strangers to the Shire would not - could not know. Your weapons are uncommon, and your... apparel, is most unusual as well for women. However, I must admit that I have never seen a female dwarf before you and your sister."

"Wait a minute." Celia frowned at Bilbo. "What do you mean, dwarves?"

Bilbo nodded toward a mirror in one corner that had gone hitherto unnoticed. "Take a look," he said.

Getting out of her chair and walking to the mirror, Celia took a cautious look. She couldn't help but take a step back, her hand going to her neck in shock. She didn't look that different, and yet...

She couldn't be much more than 4'3", if that, and while she lacked a beard, as did Elena, the hair on her arms was definitely more present than it had been back home. She was slightly thicker as well, as if the journey here had somehow made her more... solid. Carefully looking over Elena, she saw that the same changes had taken place to her as well.

Looking over at Bilbo in shock, who had been watching her carefully and with some concern, she said faintly, "I think I need to sit down now," before collapsing in the chair that was fortunately right behind her.

Bilbo leapt up from his chair and hurried over to her. "Are you all right, Miss Celia?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Celia said dazedly, waving one hand vaguely in the air. "I just need a minute to take it in."

Putting her head between her knees, she took deep breaths for a minute before sitting back up, still looking pale, but much calmer. "Okay. I think I'm okay now. Sorry for worrying you," she apologized weakly.

Bilbo waved it off. "I'm just glad you're all right, Miss Celia," he said.

Celia looked at him. "You can just call me Celia," she offered. "I think it's quite all right if you do, considering all that you've done for us today."

Bilbo considered this for a moment before agreeing. "Very well, but only if you call me Bilbo. Despite what my gardener seems to think, I'm not a stickler for the finer points of etiquette when it's not necessary to avoid offending others."

Celia couldn't help but laugh a little. "I'm still not sure what's going on, though," she commented. "I mean, I didn't look quite like this back in our world, and neither did Elena."

"How do you mean, if I may ask?" Bilbo asked.

"Well, we looked similar to this, but we were both somewhat taller, although still short for someone our ages. We were also less hairy, and had a bit less... muscle." Celia answered, twisting her arm back and forth as she studied the changes once more.

Bilbo looked up. "Oh, I quite forgot. While we are on the subject, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? You both look rather young to be out on your own."

Celia tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "You know, we're not quite sure. When we woke up in the hospital - healer's workplace, I guess you could call it," she added, seeing Bilbo's confused look.

"We both claimed that we were around twelve years of age. But we couldn't remember who was older, and as we both looked to be around three or four years old in human age, it was assumed that we were just confused. Now I _really_ don't know what's going on, because I don't think we're human anymore. But we're definitely not elf or hobbit. And at any rate, right now, we're around nineteen to twenty years old in human age."

Bilbo thought about this for a moment before asking. "What about your parents? Do you have any clue as to whom or what race they might be?"

Reaching under her shirt, Celia pulled out a silvery-gold locket that was elegantly designed and hung close to her neck. "Elena and I both had one when we were found. It's locked shut, and we've never been able to take it off. It had a slip-chain, and sort of automatically adjusted as we grew, but never enough that we could take it off. It was kind of weird, really. But that's the only thing we have. Well, that and Elena's love of axes."

"Axes are a very dwarvish weapon," Bilbo commented as he got up from his chair to examine Celia's necklace. "And this necklace is of dwarven make. No human has the capability to forge like this, and elves don't prefer this style." He looked up at Celia. "If this necklace came from your parents, and there are only humans in your world, then it seems as though you originally came from this world."

Celia stared at him in shock. "I - you - what?" she managed to say at last. "You think Elena and I were born in this world, and somehow ended up in our other world, and then returned here again somehow?"

Bilbo shrugged. "All the evidence seems to point in that direction. And you said when you were found, you were both unconscious, and had memory problems when you woke up?" Celia nodded. "And when I found you, you were both unconscious, and you had a bit of amnesia as well, if I recall correctly." He paused for a moment. "Pardon the pun. Perhaps both times happened because of an accidental trip to either your world or mine."

"But - but what about my memory? Elena and I hardly remember anything from before we woke up the first time at least, nothing about our home, and now I remember most of my life growing up!" Celia asked, shock creeping back into her voice.

Bilbo shrugged again. "You did say you were very young then. Perhaps it is because you're older this time, and so handled the trip better. I really can't say, as I only became aware of the possibility of other worlds this morning, and thus am hardly an expert on the subject."

Celia smiled a little. "I'd say you're more of an expert than I am. You're dealing with this whole situation far better than I am." She shook her head wearily.

Bilbo looked at her sympathetically. "Yes, but I don't have an unconscious sister to worry about as well as everything else." He paused for a moment. "I'm sure everything will look better with some food inside you. That's what Mrs. Labilee ordered, anyhow. Why don't you come take a bite to eat, and think things over a little, and then we can come back here and check on your sister again, and maybe figure a few more things out?"

"All right," Celia agreed reluctantly. "But is it all right if I eat in here, Mr. Baggins? I don't really want to leave my sister alone right now."

"Bilbo," Bilbo reminded her gently. "And yes, of course. I'll go cook up some dinner really quick, and leave you two alone for a bit. I'll bring some too you when it's ready."

"Thank you, Bilbo," Celia said, smiling gratefully at him.

"You're welcome, Miss Celia," Bilbo said with a smile, ducking out of the room before she had a chance to remind him that it was just 'Celia,' instead of 'Miss Celia.'

Shaking her head in amusement, she pulled the chair up next to the bed to wait. Taking Elena's hand in her own, she said softly, "You better wake up soon, sis. There's a whole new world out here, and I'd rather not face it on my own."

* * *

 **A/N: Just a bit of a head's up, I'm making Bilbo a bit more adventurous than he was in canon.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit or LOTR. They belong to the JRR Tolkien estate.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Explanations and Decisions

~~Elena~~

Elena slowly returned to consciousness, feeling tired and achy as though she had run a marathon before falling asleep. Opening her eyes lazily, she came fully awake with a start.

Above her head was a wood ceiling instead of the open skies that she had been expecting. Turning her head to the side slowly, she realized that her head was on a soft pillow, and that she was, in fact, lying on a soft bed in a nice-looking, if old-fashioned, bedroom.

She furrowed her brow, trying to remember where she was, or how she had gotten here, only to come up blank. Straining her mind, she tried to think, but all she could remember was something that vaguely made her think of a pile of dirt for some reason.

She had been... camping. With her sister.

 _Celia!_

The thought made her try to sit up, only to be forced to lie back down when her head started pounding fiercely and her stomach threatened to rebel at the sudden motion.

A door in the front of the room swung open, making her swivel her head towards the door in an effort to see who was coming in.

"Elena! You're awake!" Celia cried out happily, rushing to her sister's side and gently hugging her.

"I guess so," Elena said groggily, returning the hug as best as she could. "Celia - where are we?" she asked, looking around the room. "Did we get in an accident, or something? Because I don't remember how we got here."

Celia's face sobered. "Let me give you a check-up first. It's a long story, and I want to make sure that you're ready first before I tell you."

Elena stared up at her sister in concern, unused to seeing her usually happy-go-lucky sister so serious, except when she was hunting. Or in trouble. "All right. But I expect a full explanation when this is completed," she said, submitting to her sister's examination resignedly.

"You'll get one, I promise," her sister said, taking a look at her head.

xXx

One full examination later, Elena was feeling much better and very hungry.

Hearing her stomach growl, her sister smiled. "I expect you're pretty hungry. I'll go get you some soup to eat while I explain what happened. It's a long story, so you might as well have something to do while I tell it."

Elena nodded. She felt like she hadn't eaten in days. Taking a closer look at her surroundings while her sister was fetching the food, she noticed a bowl half full with broth with a spoon in it and a glass of water sitting on a night stand by the bed.

She frowned. She knew enough about the medical business - thanks to Celia - to realize that she must have been out for a while if she had needed to be spoon fed. But then why wasn't she in a hospital? With an IV line instead?

It looked like she was in someone's house.

And then Celia came back into the room, followed by a short middle-aged man carrying a tray with a bowl of steaming soup on it, distracting her from her thoughts.

Setting the tray on the night stand, he said to Elena with a distinguished British accent, "I'm glad to see you awake, Miss Elena. Your sister was starting to worry." Smiling at her once more, he quickly left the room.

Staring after him as he left, as soon as he was gone, she turned to her sister and demanded, "Celia - where are we? And why does he look so familiar? I know I've never met him before in my life!"

Taking a deep breath, her sister said, "Why don't you grab your food and start eating. I'll try to explain what's going on, but you have to understand. It sounds crazy, but as far as I can tell, every bit of it is real."

Elena narrowed her eyes at her sister, thinking it over before reluctantly nodding.

"Fine," she agreed at last, carefully sitting up in the bed. Relieved that her headache had finally faded, she made herself comfortable before setting the tray on her lap and starting to dig in. It was a simple vegetable stew, but she would happily swear she'd never tasted anything better.

Pulling a nearby chair up to the bed, Celia sat down in it and stared at the floor for a few minutes while her sister waited impatiently. Taking another deep breath, she finally looked back up at her sister and dove in.

"The man you just saw was a hobbit. Of the Shire. The reason he looked so familiar was because his name is Bilbo Baggins. This is his house that he kindly let us stay in. We're sitting in Bag End, of the Shire, in Middle Earth, right now."

Elena stared at her sister before letting out a laugh. "Nice one, sis. You almost had me going for a minute there. Now where are we really?"

Celia shook her head. "I'm telling the truth. Do you really think that I would have left you in a house, when I could have just gotten an ambulance to take you to the hospital?"

Elena nodded her head in concession of the point, downing another spoonful of stew. "That's true. But if you didn't have access to an ambulance, and someone came along to help me after... whatever it was happened... then that could easily explain why I'm lying in someone's bed instead of a hospital."

Celia bit her lip. "You were unconscious for three days after we found you," she said reluctantly. "Bilbo found me first. He was walking near the woods when he saw me lying unconscious in the woods. He was able to wake me up, whereupon I went through probably the exact same feelings of shock and disbelief that you are now once I figured out what was going on. Whatever happened to you, happened to me. I just woke up first."

Elena stared at her sister. Having grown up with her, she could tell when she was lying or joking, for the most part.

Whether it was true or not, her sister was telling her what she believed to be the absolute truth.

"So, let me get this straight," she said between spoonfuls. "We both somehow ended up unconscious in the Shire? And... Bilbo Baggins, of Bag End, somehow found us and brought us to his home?"

Celia nodded. "I didn't believe it at first either. But then... there were some proofs that were... pretty undeniable that we weren't in the woods back home anymore.

Setting her now empty soup bowl aside, Elena demanded, "Like what?"

Celia bit her lip again. "Do you feel up to standing up?" she asked.

After thinking about it, Elena nodded. She was feeling much better than she had when she had first woken up, and her stomach had finally settled now that she had some proper food in it. Her sister helped her up anyways, and then led her over to a mirror.

"Take a look," she said, nodding towards the mirror.

With a shrug, Elena did as requested. She didn't see anything unusual at first. Then, looking closer, she saw a few small differences.

"My arms weren't this hairy before. Or thick," she said slowly, staring at her now definitely hairier, and thicker, arm. "And I don't think I had muscle this defined," she said, eyeing the change with a confused eye.

"There's more than that," Celia said. Leading her sister back to the bed, she left her there before heading to her chair and pulling out her quiver of arrows. "My arrows are about 25" long, right?" she asked.

"Right," Elena said slowly, wondering what on earth this had to do with the current madness.

Taking an arrow out of her quiver, Celia held it up to her leg, before moving it up to just above its former position, using it to measure herself. "I can only get just over two arrows before I run out of body. That would mean that I'm now about 4'3" tall," she said. "And I think that you're about the same height as well."

Staring at her in disbelief, Elena got out of bed. "No way. Let me see those arrows," she demanded, grabbing an arrow out of her sister's quiver. Standing up, she held the arrow to herself, only to come up with approximately the same measurement as Celia.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she turned to her sister, who had been silently watching. "What's going on? What happened to us?" she asked, silently pleading with her sister to make sense out of the madness.

Celia looked at her sister sympathetically. "As best as Bilbo and I can figure out, and this is a bit of a long shot here, you and I have been turned into dwarves. In fact, it's possible that you and I were born here, as dwarves, then somehow ended up in our world, and now have somehow been returned back here."

Elena sat back down on the bed shakily. "Dwarves? B- _born_ here? What?"

Celia sighed. "It's crazy, I know. But when you think about all the factors combined, it actually kind of makes sense. In a... really weird, somewhat earth-shattering kind of way."

Elena held up a hand to silence her, closing her eyes. "Just... give me a minute, okay?" she asked. Celia gave her a worried look but complied. After a moment of deep breaths and purposefully blocking out her emotions, Elena opened her eyes. "Okay, I think I'm all right now. Now, what factors, exactly, are you talking about?"

Celia paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before answering. "Okay. First of all, you remember how we were found when we were little, lying unconscious in an abandoned lot, with no signs of how we had gotten there?" When Elena nodded she continued.

"When Bilbo found us, there were no footprints that led to our bodies. He only noticed me because he saw something strange out of the corner of his eye. Just like when we were little. I don't know for sure, but it could be that whatever led us to the other world, led us back here. Plus, I remember being really scared about something right before my memory goes blank. Just like how when we were found, all we remembered was being really scared, but we could never say what about."

"Okay, that could be a slightly plausible explanation," Elena said skeptically. "But what about everything else?"

"I'm getting to that," Celia said patiently. "The necklaces that you and I have always had, that we could never take off?" she asked, pulling out her necklace. "Bilbo says that the runes on them are dwarven, and that the make of them is dwarven as well. And we don't have dwarves in our world, as I'm sure you remember quite well.

"Then there's our desire to learn how to use weapons, particularly your choice of axes - _not_ something the average person back home chooses to do. Axes are a dwarven choice of weapon, over most humans, elves, and hobbits. And it's pretty obvious that we're not hobbits or elves," she said, gesturing to her ears. "Not to mention that if we had stayed human, we most likely would have had the same appearance and height that we did back home."

Elena held up a finger. "Hold up a minute. I'm following you so far. I'm not sure I believe it yet, but I'm following you. But I do have a question. Assuming that we were born dwarves, and somehow ended up in our world, why were we humans there? Because we were most definitely humans there. And why are we "back" to dwarves now?"

Celia shrugged. "The best that Bilbo and I can figure out is that because there were only humans in our world, we somehow ended up as humans. Then, when we came back here, we became dwarves again."

Elena blinked, trying to take it all in. "And you're sure that this isn't just some massive trick, or shared hallucination?"

Celia nodded. "You've been asleep for three days _after_ I woke up. In all that time, there have been no inconsistencies in what I've seen, and it all logically fits with what life in the Shire, including Bilbo Baggins, is supposed to be like. And I don't think it's a trick. I checked my arrows, and they're the same that they were when we went on the camping trip back home. Which means that we really have shrunk about eight inches. And that's not something that I think is possible back home. I'm pretty sure we don't have the technology for it yet."

Elena looked at her sister, trying to keep it all together. "Okay. So... supposing we _are_ in Middle Earth, and that _was_ Bilbo Baggins who brought me soup, where are we at in the timeline? I mean, I know it can't be the _Lord of the Rings_ time yet, he's too young. So... when are we?"

Celia shrugged. "I don't know. I think it's before the events of _The Hobbit_ , though. He hasn't mentioned it at all, and he doesn't have any of the memorabilia that he would have after the trip. Not to mention that he's still held to be very respectable by his neighbors. So he can't have gone off on any "disreputable" adventures yet."

Elena nodded slowly. "All right. Umm... is it all right if I'm alone for a bit? I just need some time to process it all."

Celia nodded understandingly. "Of course. I'll just be down the hall with Bilbo. And don't worry about having trouble taking it all in. I had a pretty big panic attack two days ago. Scared poor Bilbo something awful."

Elena forced a smile. "Well, I'll try not to have any panic attacks, then. Don't want to alarm our host unnecessarily."

Looking at her sister with concern, but pretending not to, Celia forced a smile. "Okay. I'll be down the hall if you need anything. Just call if you need me."

"I'll be fine," Elena said, shooing her sister out of the room. It was only once the door had shut behind her that she abandoned the calm facade. Taking deep, shaky breaths, she got out of bed and sat down in the corner, feeling the need to have something solid at her back. Wrapping her arms around her knees and drawing them to her chest, she stared at the floor and tried to make sense out of chaos.

xXx

Two days later, both Elena and Celia were completely well, and had mostly come to terms with their change in surroundings, and had even come to accept that they might be there for a while. Once Elena was on the mend, they had briefly wondered about what they would do, or where they would stay until they figured out what exactly was going on, but Bilbo had put their worries to rest quickly.

"You might as well stay here," he had said plainly. "You have nowhere else to go, and you can stay here until the next dwarven group of traders comes through. They stop by every year or so, and you can make inquiries then, and perhaps figure out where you should go from there. Besides, I don't feel right just sending two young ladies off into the wild all by themselves. You may have weapons, but there are groups of... rather unsavory characters out there, who could do you a great deal of harm.

"If you stay here, you would have a place to stay until then, and you could both perhaps pick up a trade as well. I know Miss Celia here has mentioned a knowledge of the healing arts," he said, nodding towards her sister.

"And I know Mrs. Labilee is also on the lookout for someone to help her when she works. Perhaps you could become an apprentice to her until the time that you feel the need to leave. I'm afraid I don't know what direction your preferences currently lie in at the moment, Miss Elena," he added apologetically.

"That's all right, Mr. Baggins," Elena said with a smile. "You've done so much for us already, that I don't even know where to begin to thank you."

"You can start by agreeing to call me Bilbo, as your sister does," Bilbo returned.

"Are you sure it wouldn't be a bother at all, if we stayed?" Celia asked skeptically.

Bilbo shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, I believe the company would do me good. I've been alone for a while, and I fear I should soon start to talk to myself if I stayed alone for much longer. And imagine the talk that _that_ would generate. Besides, if what Miss Celia tells me is true, and you do have knowledge of events that concern me and dwarves in the future, I rather think it would be for the best if you stayed where I could reach you, should a large group of dwarves show up unannounced at my door."

Elena looked at Celia. "You told him about what happens?" she hissed.

"No, I didn't!" Celia insisted, shaking her head. "Not all of it. I just... maybe... told him a little bit to prove that I wasn't insane." Seeing her sister still looking at her disapprovingly, she added defensively, "Well, how else was I supposed to explain my knowledge of this place, if we had come from some other world?"

"Please don't judge your sister too harshly," Bilbo interceded. "It did help corroborate her story, and, to be completely truthful, I am grateful for the knowledge that I will be going on an adventure sometime in the future. It must have some great purpose to convince me to leave the Shire," he said, looking around at the walls and cheerily burning fire in the fireplace.

"It... it's a pretty good one, all right," Elena admitted wryly. "But, I hope you understand that we can't tell you everything that's going to happen. It could do more harm than good."

Bilbo nodded. "Of course. I understand completely. And besides, it's most likely a long ways off yet, so I would more than likely forget it anyways by the time such an event should happen, rendering such information useless. Either way, it isn't important at this time. It's still early morning, so if you'd like, Miss Celia, I could take you down to see Mrs. Labilee. That is, if you wouldn't mind staying here by yourself, Miss Elena," he added hastily.

Elena shook her head. "I don't mind at all. I'll probably just sketch in my sketchbook, or something. For some reason, Celia had one of them in her knapsack along with a couple of drawing pencils."

Celia shrugged. "Don't ask me. I just found it in there. Don't know why. Might have been a mistake. But sure. If I could start training with Mrs. Labilee, that would be great."

"Well then, let's be off," Bilbo said, getting to his feet. "It shan't take long, I don't think. She'll probably be glad to hire you."

The two pulled on their coats to protect them from the chilly autumn wind, said good-bye to Elena, and left for the healer's. Once they were gone, Elena headed to the room that the two of them currently shared. Although Bilbo had offered them separate rooms, the two had decided to room together for the time being while they tried to sort out what they were going to do.

Pulling out her sketchbook and a pencil, she chose a comfy armchair and sat down. Flipping to an open page, she began to draw a quick sketch of Bag End as she had seen it from the outside, with Bilbo standing by the front door. Letting her thoughts wander as she worked, her mind began to drift to the thought of her new appearance, and what it entailed.

She knew axes were a dwarf-like weapon, so perhaps that had been a part of her decision to train in them. Maybe her parents used to use axes? But then again, archery was more elvish than dwarvish, at least in terms of numbers of archers versus axemen, and Celia had chosen to become an archer.

Either way, she was just glad that she still had her axes.

Looking over her rough sketch, she realized that for the foreseeable future, her and Celia's life was now itself a rough sketch, as much of what she had used to believe was true, such as the impossibility of inter-universal travel, had been called into question. Who could say what else was possible, if they had changed both universes and races.

And, if dwarves could live for several centuries... did that mean that they could, as well?

* * *

 **A/N: And so it begins...**

 ** **Thank you all so much to everyone who's favorited and followed! And shout-out to MissCallaLilly, thewolf74, and naomi. coigligh for commenting! You all left such nice reviews, you have no idea how happy it makes me when I'm at work and see that someone left me a review, and I get to look forward to reading it once I get off work.****

 **Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! :)**

 **I do not own the Hobbit or LOTR, they belong to the JRR Tolkien estate. I do, however, own Elena and Celia.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Life in the Shire, Part 1

~~Celia~~

Celia walked wearily up the hill toward Bag End. Pushing open the gate with a tired sigh, she let it swing shut behind her, the gate brushing against her long green skirt as it shut. Reaching the door, she paused to adjust her dark green vest and white shirt before pushing the door open.

It had been almost a month since she and Elena had been found by Bilbo and had subsequently been taken in by him. It had come as a surprise to most of Hobbiton to hear that Bilbo had taken in two young dwarves, but they had been accepting for the most part, in large part due to the efforts of Bilbo.

During that time, she had become apprenticed to the the town healer, Mrs. Labilee. As there wasn't a huge demand for artists in Hobbiton, Elena occasionally helped the gardeners, a task that she enjoyed, or would draw sketches for the children of Hobbiton, who delighted in getting pictures of themselves.

Elena looked up from the chair where she had been sketching when her sister entered.

"Hey, sis," she said with a smirk. "You look great. I take it everything went well?"

Celia rolled her eyes. "Oh shush," she said wearily, brushing a curl that had gotten loose back behind her ear. "And it went fine, I'm just tired."

Still smirking, Elena asked, "So... if I recall correctly, this was your first time 'birthing a babe,' as it were, wasn't it?" Barely waiting for her sister to respond she went on, "So what'd you think?"

Celia shot a mock glare at her sister. "Yes, it was my first time helping with a birth. And no, I did not faint." Seeing her sister pretending to look disappointed, she rolled her eyes again. "But if it makes you feel any better, I will admit that I am... very glad that I am not having a child any time soon. I love children, but I think I can wait."

Laughing, Elena leaned forward in her chair and rested her chin on her hand. "I bet. But I still want to know: is it a boy or a girl?"

Celia smiled, her tired expression softening. "Boy. They named him Milo Proudfoot. And he has got to be one of the cutest newborn babies I have ever seen."

Elena laughed again. "Pfft," she said, sitting back in her seat and waving her hand in the air. "You say that about literally almost every baby you see."

"True," Celia admitted, "But it's also true for him. Plus, he's the first baby I've ever helped deliver, so I suppose I feel a bit more proud about him than I would most other babies."

Elena thought about this for a minute before nodding in agreement. "I suppose. I do have one other thing to talk about though, if you feel up to it. It's kind of important though, so it would be best if we get it done now rather than later."

Celia looked at her sister curiously as she sat down in a chair next to her. "I suppose I could do it. But what's so important, anyways?"

Elena paused before answering. "The Hobbit." Seeing the questions starting to form in her sister's eyes, she went on, holding up a finger to keep her from interrupting. "What I mean is, the adventures of the Hobbit book, the one written by J. R. R. Tolkien back home. The one that we read all the time, and the story that got made into an epic trilogy."

Celia nodded slowly. "Okay, I'm with you so far. The story is obviously important because we're living in that world, but I'm too tired to think through whatever it is you're trying to imply right now."

Elena let out an impatient sigh. "If you'd let me explain, I'd tell you."

"Sorry," Celia muttered, fighting back a yawn.

Eyeing her sister to make sure she wouldn't interrupt again, Elena continued. "I don't know when for sure, but I think that Bilbo will probably be going on that adventure sometime in the next year or two. We'll probably still be around by then, if the time we spent in our old world was any indication. That means that we could go on the journey with him." Elena emphasized.

Celia blinked in slowly dawning realization. "You mean - we could travel with the company of Thorin Oakenshield to Erebor?"

Elena nodded. "Not just that - think about all the horrible stuff that happened along the way. Maybe we could help with those somehow."

Celia nodded thoughtfully. "I've always hated the deaths of Thorin, Fíli and Kíli at the end. I can only imagine how their poor mother must have felt when she found out. All her family except her was dead."

She paused as a thought stuck her. "But you do realize that we'd have to convince them to bring us along, first, right? Not to mention that we'd have to figure out what we could and couldn't tell them. I mean, what would you think if someone came up and told you to bring them with you on this secret journey because you were going to die in about a year?"

Elena snorted, but nodded, seeing her sister's point. "True, but I've thought about that. From what I remember, female dwarves are rather rare, along with children. We could try and play up the angle that we can protect ourselves, and that they shouldn't leave us here alone, or something. I don't know. If we're still around by then, we can figure it out then. My main thought was that I wanted to write down the major events so that we can remember them, and hopefully know what to try and change."

Celia thought about this for a bit before nodding agreement. "All right. How about we just make a list while Bilbo's gone." She looked around. "Where is he, anyways?"

Elena shrugged. "I think he went for a walk. He should be back soon, he said he wasn't going to be gone long." Rifling through her sketchbook until she found a clean page, she ripped it out and began to write:

 _Major Events  
• Bilbo meets Gandalf  
• The dwarves all come over for dinner shortly after  
• Bilbo refuses to join, but eventually does anyway  
• The trolls capture them at the wrecked barn  
• Radagast finds them at the troll hoard, wargs attack  
• Rivendell, map translated, meeting of the white council  
• Battle of the mountain giants  
• Cave leads to goblin home, finding of "the precious"  
• They escape, Azog attacks, Thorin hurt, saved by eagles  
• Beorn's cabin, Mirkwood, lose the path, caught by spiders and elves  
• Escape in barrels, *Kíli poisoned by Bolg, Bard takes them to Lake-town  
• Thorin starts to go gold mad, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, and Bofur forced to stay  
• *Kíli saved by Tauriel, dwarves rouse Smaug, who attacks Lake-town  
• Smaug killed by black arrow to hole in armor on left side of chest  
• Thorin goes completely gold mad, part of company as well, Bilbo trades the arkenstone  
• Battle of Five Armies, deaths of Thorin, Fíli, and Kíli at hand of Azog and Bolg - trap on big mountain _  
  


_Things that should change  
• Treatment of Bilbo by the dwarves  
• capture by elves, *Kíli poisoned  
• Thorin's gold madness, destruction of Lake-town, if possible  
• deaths of the Durins._

 _*movie events only, might not happen?_

Showing the list to her sister, she let her read it over silently, waiting for her response.

After reading it thoroughly, Celia looked up and nodded thoughtfully. "I think you've got most of it. At least, I think you have all of the really big stuff. And I like how you put in the part about Bilbo's treatment. He really did get it pretty harsh for the first part of the trip. I'm not quite sure about how to change that, though. Maybe him knowing how to use a weapon would help."

"Help who?" A voice asked, startling both the girls. Swiftly flipping over the sheet of paper, the two girls looked up with innocent smiles to see Bilbo looking at them suspiciously.

"Umm... no one?" Celia tried. Seeing that Bilbo obviously didn't buy it, and just raised his eyebrow instead, she ignored her sister's warning glare and gave in. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you! It's a list of stuff that we know about your future that we're trying to change because we want to help you," she said, speaking so fast that it was almost indiscernible. Behind Bilbo, Elena sighed and face-palmed.

Bilbo blinked at the sudden barrage of words and tried to understand at least the gist of it. When he did, he raised his eyebrow again and said, "I take it that this... 'list'... is about the adventure I'll be taking some time from now, that I've heard you two mention?"

Raising her head from her hand, Elena said sheepishly, "Umm... pretty much, yeah."

Bilbo nodded with an interested expression. "Would I be allowed to see the list, by any chance? Or do you intend to try and 'help me' without telling me anything?" The twins looked at each other and held a rapid silent conversation that consisted of narrowed eyes and tilted heads while Bilbo waited patiently.

"Technically, you shouldn't see the list," Elena said at last. "It holds some stuff that you probably shouldn't know, at least not yet. However... I suppose we could tell you some of the stuff, and at least help you prepare for your journey."

Bilbo tilted his head to the side, thinking about what she had said. After a moment, he said, "All right. I'm interested. What exactly did you have in mind?"

Elena gave her sister and uncertain glance. "You'll listen to us? Just like that?"

Bilbo shrugged. "You two must be rubbing off on me. And besides, I believed you about the whole coming from another world, thing, didn't I? This can't be much more of a stretch to believe than that was."

Elena inclined her head in agreement. "Fair point. All right then, but you can't say I didn't warn you..."

xXx

Bilbo stared at the target that seemed an impossible distance away. "You want me to hit it from _here?"_ he asked, the incredulity audible in his voice.

Celia nodded, stifling a smile. "Bit of a spoiler, you'll pick up a great weapon along the way, but we think it will go way easier for you, especially in the beginning, if you can at least handle yourself with a weapon. And besides, it's been three months since you found us, and two months since you began practicing regularly. You can still practice archery as well, but it will take somewhat longer for you to become proficient at it. Most hobbits have great aim, and knife throwing will at least be a good start for you, especially now that you've gotten some good throwing knives, instead of those other ones you had to use."

Bilbo snorted. "You've dragged me out here in the cold, standing in the snow, freezing cold, and now you have the nerve to insult my old throwing knives? And after all I've done for you. Hmph." He stuck his nose in the air, pretending to be hurt.

Celia laughed, walking over to him and hugging him, which he returned. After three months of living together, they had all become close friends. "Bilbo, your old knives weren't actually _throwing_ knives. There's a difference. Now, enough chatter. Finish this up, and we can go home and have a nice warm cup of tea. Come on, it's barely 25 feet away." she said, backing away and bringing her gloved hands up to her red face and blowing on them.

Bilbo glared at her. "That's exactly my point. I've never thrown that distance purposefully before."

Celia shrugged. "Then today can be the first," she said, glancing at the target pointedly.

Rolling his eyes, Bilbo sighed and took a knife in his hand, specially ordered in Bree to fit his specifications, and got his stance ready. Aiming at the target, he took a deep breath, relaxed, and threw. The knife had barely left his hand when he was grabbing another one from the holster he had attached to his waist for this purpose, aimed, and thrown again, in far less time than it took to say. Both knives slammed into the target with a satisfying thud.

Walking up to the target, Bilbo grimaced at his results. "It's barely on the inside of the second inner circle. Normally I'm better than that."

Celia grinned, clapping him on the back. "Don't worry, Bilbo. This was only your first time. Keep practicing, and you'll be hitting the bulls-eye in no time. Now come on, let's go get some tea."

Bilbo smiled ruefully at her. "I suppose you're right, just this once," he said, carefully pulling his knives from the target.

"And once you've mastered this, we'll increase the distance, and eventually see about moving targets," Celia said cheerfully, already walking.

Bilbo stopped and moaned under his breath. "What have I gotten myself into?" he muttered.

"Nothing you didn't ask for," Celia called back, still walking. Unable to resist a smile, Bilbo laughed and ran to catch up with her.

"I suppose so," he said, shaking his head with a smile.

xXx

"I love ice skating!" Elena shouted with glee as she zipped around the frozen pond. Celia couldn't help but laugh as she watched her sister, short brown hair flying in the wind as much as it could under the colorful hat she was wearing to protect her ears.

"I'm coming," she shouted, pulling on her skates that had been bought with some spare money she had earned from the blacksmith in Bree. "Are you coming skating too, Uncle Bilbo?" she asked, looking at the hobbit who was currently sitting beside her. The older hobbit shook his head.

"No thank you, dear, I've never been good at ice skating. I think I'll build a snowman instead. Would anyone like to help me?" he asked, looking over at the tiny hobbit children who were too young for their mothers to consider let them go ice skating.

"Ooh, ooh, me!" a little hobbit lass named Daisy shouted, waving her hand excitedly in the air.

"And me!" Myrtle Grubb exclaimed. Soon Bilbo was surrounded by half a dozen tiny hobbits, carefully rolling a ball of snow to make the base of their snowman.

Celia chuckled as she carefully got out onto the ice. Calling Bilbo 'Uncle,' had been a recent change, since shortly after the new year, but they all considered themselves a bit like a rather unusual family now. It had all started when Elena had gotten sick with a bad cold after skating for too long and not dressing up warmly enough.

Half out of it with a fever, she had insisted on calling Bilbo their uncle for the duration of her fever, although she didn't seem to recognize him as Bilbo, and the two girls didn't have an uncle back home either. Celia had gone along with it as a joke, and Bilbo had gotten so used to it by the end, that by the time Elena got better, it had become normal for them to call him that.

"Hey Celia," Aldagrim called as she got onto the ice. "It took you long enough. Are you sure you're a dwarf, and not part turtle?"

Glaring at the sniggering young hobbit boy, Celia muttered, "You're gonna pay for that!" Taking off after the delighted child, she chased him around the pond until he skated behind his friend Chrissy, who had been laughing at them both the whole time.

"You know, I don't think Celia's part turtle," she said. "I think she and Elena are dwobbits!"

"What now?" Elena asked, skating up to them with a confused look on her face. "Doddits?"

"Dwobbits," the 17 year old hobbit corrected. "You guys are dwarves, but you live with hobbits, and you look like us too, mostly, so you guys must be dwobbits! Part dwarves, part hobbits!"

"Works for me," Aldagrim said with a shrug.

"AND ME!" Some one shouted with a screech, racing up behind them and wrapping her arms around Elena all of a sudden.

"Dang it, Pearl!" Elena cried as she staggered forward, barely managing to keep her feet on the ice. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

Pearl Brownleaf laughed, swiftly skating to the front of them and catching Elena in a hug. "I don't know. I never pay attention. Besides, I'm only fifteen. You guys are like way older, which means you're responsible, 'cause you're adults. And I'm not!" she said with a mocking laugh, sticking out her tongue before darting away to play with some of her friends on the other side of the pond.

Elena shook her head with a fond smile. "I keep forgetting that hobbits age differently than humans do. For humans, fifteen years would be almost an adult. But for a hobbit, it's more like being 10 human years old. Or... something like that."

Chrissy shrugged. "Either way, I know you guys are supposed to be way older than us or something. How old are you, anyways?"

Celia shrugged back at her. "We're actually not quite sure. Somewhere around twenty in human years, which would probably be somewhere around thirty-four years old for a hobbit."

Aldagrim's eyes widened. "Wow. Pearl was right. You _are_ old!"

Celia's eyes narrowed. "That's it. Come here, you little pipsqueak!"

"You'll never catch me," the youngster shouted, taking off towards the back of the pond, where he started a vigorous round of tag that eventually left the entire group collapsed on the ice from laughter and exhaustion.

"I'm still gonna get you," Celia threatened from where she lay on the ice, panting.

"Okay. I'm too exhausted to skate anymore anyways," the boy responded.

Catching a glimpse of how low the sun was getting, Elena sat up. "We should probably be getting home," she called to the group. "It'll be getting dark soon."

A round of disappointed "Awws," came from the group.

Elena shrugged. "Okay. If you want. Personally, I wouldn't want to have to face my mother after coming home late, but if you say so." The hobbits began getting up with remarkable speed, skating to the edge of the pond, where they sat down and began to take off their skates.

Celia and Elena both laughed as they watched them. "I don't blame them," Celia whispered with a smile. "Have you seen Belle's mother?"

Elena nodded with a laugh. "Yeah. She's _scary_ when she's mad!" Pulling on their winter boots, the two girls stood up and walked over to where Bilbo and the littlest hobbits were.

"And that makes a very fine snowman," Bilbo was saying to Myrtle.

"Thelia! Elna!" the little girl shouted when she saw them. "Look at the snowman we builded!"

"Wow!" Elena said, kneeling down next to the little girl. "That's an awesome snowman. But I think that it's time for you guys to be getting home. Your mothers will be missing you. Want me to carry you?" Nodding, the little girl held out her arms for Elena to pick her up.

"I'll see you guys at home," she called over her shoulder, holding Myrtle with one hand, and leading her little brother Folco with the other.

Celia shook her head with a smile. "Looks like it's up to me and Bilbo to get the rest of you guys home," she told the group.

"I wanna be carried," Daisy begged, climbing onto Celia's lap.

"Not me! I'm a big boy! I'm gonna walk!" Monto said determinedly, making both Celia and Bilbo hide a smile.

Swinging another little girl into his arms, Bilbo nodded to Celia and said, "I'll get the Hornblowers home, if you can get the rest. They're pretty tuckered out after a long day in the snow. Although, come to think of it, so am I," he admitted with a rueful grin. "And I'm not even that old."

Celia laughed. "Old enough, I suppose. I'll see you at home, Uncle Bilbo." Carefully standing up, she grabbed Monto's hand and headed towards his home, while Bilbo headed towards Daisy and her sister's home. After dropping off the children with their grateful parents, Celia began to walk slowly towards home, enjoying the early February sunset and the chance to think about things in peace.

It had been almost six months since Bilbo had found them, and they were no closer to finding out who their parents were, but they decided to enjoy the time waiting, and so had made many friends in the Shire over the long winter months.

As she walked, Celia's mind drifted to the topic that seemed to have come up a lot today: age. She and Elena still weren't quite sure how old they were, especially now, given the fact that most dwarves lived far longer than both men and hobbits.

As near as Bilbo and she had been able to figure out, since they were dwarves, they were probably around seventy to seventy-five years old in dwarven years. Bilbo estimated that they seemed to have aged like a human while they were in their old world, but would probably age like a dwarf now that they appeared to be dwarves again. When Elena told him that they had claimed to be around twelve years old, his eyes had widened.

 _"But that would mean that you were about..." He paused to make a quick mental calculation. "Three years old in human terms. You were that young?"_

 _Elena shrugged. "That's what the file on us said. So you think that means that we for sure were born dwarves, and aged like them, before going to our world, where we... aged like humans, and then came back here?"_

 _Bilbo shrugged in return. "That seems to be the most plausible explanation. Well, at least, as far as an explanation can be plausible in a situation like this. Not to mention the fact that while I may not know much about dwarves, or dwarven jewelry, I do believe that your necklaces are a somewhat older style of jewelry._

 _"Which makes me wonder if your world runs faster than ours. Because I believe it is possible that you were born here seventy-four or however many years ago it was, then went to your old world, where you aged to be the equivalent that you would be in dwarf years. Essentially, it's as if you had aged fifty years in fifteen."_

 _Celia's eyes widened. "Whoa. That's... that's kind of weird, to think about, honestly, being almost eighty. Back home, we would probably qualify for a retirement home for the elderly!"_

Celia's thoughts came to a halt as she realized that she was home. Brushing the snow off her hat, she took the tie off of her long braid and absentmindedly ran her fingers through it as she shook the snow off of her boots. Wincing at all the tangles she found, she gave up trying to comb her fingers through it with a sigh, and entered the warm hobbit hole where a fire was burning merrily in the fireplace.

Bilbo was nowhere to be seen, but Elena was sitting in the dining room, a cup of steaming tea beside her, flipping through her sketchbook, only to pause at one page, and stare at it with a somber look on her face. Wandering up to her curiously, she peered over her shoulder.

"Whatcha looking at?" she asked. Jumping a little at the noise, Elena looked up at her before returning her gaze to the paper. Celia looked down at the page, sucking in a breath. "Oh."

Drawn on the page in simple colors was the face of a beautiful woman, with long, golden flowing hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a warm smile.

"I miss her," Elena said softly.

"Me too," Celia agreed with a sigh.

"Do you think we'll ever go back?" Elena asked uncertainly.

Celia hesitated before answering. "I don't know," she admitted with another sigh. "I think all we can do is live life like she would want us to, hope for the best, and remember her. If worst comes to worse, and we never see her again, we can't - we won't- ever forget her. Birth mother or not, she has become our family even if she's not our blood. So even if we do find our family here, we will find a way to see Mom again. I promise."

* * *

 **A/N: Gandalf and the dwarves? Where? *A few chapters in the distance* Oh, there they are!**

 **Thank you to everyone who favorited and followed this story, it's awesome to know that people are liking it!**

 **And shout-out to naomi . coigligh, Illogical Human, Miss CallaLilly, and the guest who reviewed all three chapters! It's really encouraging to get all this feedback, and to know that you like my OCs, and the adventurous version of Bilbo.**

 **And in answer to a few questions...they'll be in the Shire for a bit, but not for too long. And as for when Gandalf and the others will arrive, well...they will arrive neither late, nor early, but rather precisely when they are meant to...(Which won't be too long, I promise!)**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or LOTR, they belong to JRR Tolkien.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Life in the Shire, Part 2

~~Elena~~

Elena jerked awake with a sudden gasp. Hastily rubbing the sleep from her brown eyes, she grabbed her sketchbook from where she kept it on her nightstand by the bed and stood up. Fumbling in the darkness, she managed to light the candle that she kept by her bedside. Blinking at the sudden light in the room, she impatiently waited for her eyes to adjust before grabbing her sketch bag and quietly creeping out of the room.

Even though she and Celia were by this point sleeping in separate rooms (after repeated offerings of his other room from Bilbo), it was still easy for sound to pass through the walls, and she had no desire to wake up Bilbo or her sister, especially at this early hour of the morning.

Creeping into the living room, she froze suddenly at the sight of Bilbo sitting there in his armchair, holding a cup of tea, a low fire burning in the fireplace and a few candles lit beside him. Unfortunately, she picked the wrong spot to step, and the floorboard beneath her creaked as she tried to leave the room.

Bilbo jumped in his seat at the sound, not expecting anyone else to be up. Swiftly scanning the room, his alert features relaxed as he spotted Elena standing hesitantly by the doorway.

"What are you doing up?" he called to her softly, setting his cup on a nearby table. Elena shrugged, coming a little further into the room.

"I could say the same to you. Had a... strange dream, I guess you could say; and I wanted to capture the details before I forgot," she said, holding up her sketchbook with one hand.

Bilbo nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. Not that I'd particularly want to remember mine," he muttered softly, half to himself. Elena looked at him curiously.

"Did... did you have a nightmare, Uncle Bilbo?" she asked with concern, taking a seat near the foot of his armchair.

Bilbo shrugged reluctantly, not really wanting to answer her. "It... was unpleasant, yes," he admitted. "But I'm used to it. I'll survive," he said, watching as Elena opened her sketchbook to an open page and began rifling through her pencils that had somehow lasted the nine months since they had came to this world, despite her numerous sketches. Knowing he didn't really want to discuss the matter, Elena made herself appear to focus on the drawing as she began to sketch.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked casually, keeping her tone light. "I know that whenever Celia or I had nightmares, we always felt better if we talked about it." Bilbo shrugged noncommittally, watching as Elena's drawing began to take shape. After a few moments of silence, as Elena sketched in the light of the fire and candles, Bilbo spoke up.

"I'm not really used to having anyone to talk to," he said hesitantly. "I suppose I haven't for some time, now," he said, a sad smile playing about his lips. Elena felt her heart give a twinge at that. She knew that Bilbo had lost his parents some time ago, but she had assumed that he had had _someone_ to talk to, at least. Apparently she had been wrong.

"There's us," she said softly. "I mean, you're like family to me and Celia now, and I hope you see us the same way. I mean, you let us come to you when we had bad dreams, or were sick or whatever, and needed someone to talk to. We can do the same to you, too," she said awkwardly.

Bilbo gave that sad half-smile again. "Don't worry, Elena. You and your sister have become like family to me, as well. Like I said, I'm just not used to having anyone to talk too. My parents were... killed, when I was just a tween. I have nightmares about it sometimes, but I've learned to cope," he said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

Elena's eyes widened. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Bilbo!" she whispered softly. "I had no idea!"

Bilbo smiled a little. "That was rather the point," he reminded her gently. "Now, what are you drawing?" he asked, his tone marking the end of that particular conversation.

Elena noted the change, but went with it easily, only saying, "I had a dream about this woman... not our mother, you know, back in our world, but a different woman."

Finished with the outline of her sketch, she held it up for Bilbo to see. Drawn on the page was a woman, as she had said, with her long brown hair flowing loosely down her back, except for a few small braids near the front of her face, which were restrained by small beads. A small locket dangled from her neck, resting delicately on her tunic.

"Her eyes are green, like Celia's," Elena commented absent-mindedly as she grabbed her green pencil. "And I don't know how, but I got the feeling that she was important to me and Celia. I don't know why she doesn't have a beard, cause I thought that dwarf women did, and that Cel and I were just different, or something. "

"What happened in your dream?" Bilbo asked curiously,watching Elena add shadowing and a bit of coloring to the picture.

"Celia and I were in a room somewhere - a kitchen, I think, and we were both pretty little. Maybe around three or four in human years, and nine or ten in dwarf years, if I have my calculations correct," Elena said. "And she was there - this woman. We called her 'Amad,' but I don't know what it means. But Celia had fallen or something and hurt her knee, and she - the woman - was bandaging it up. We were both crying, maybe because we thought we were going to be in trouble or something, I don't know.

"But she just hugged us once she was done with Celia, and told us that everything was going to be all right. Then I woke up, and I wanted to draw her face before I forgot, because if it was real, then I think that this was the first time that I've ever remembered anything from before Celia and I woke up in the other world," Elena finished, carefully shading the woman's eyes.

Bilbo was silent for a moment before saying quietly, "I think it was real. While we've only ever seen bearded dwarves, I have heard the theory that female dwarves only wear beards when they're out in the public, so as to make them appear male, and thus not out of the ordinary. I believe that the females are closely protected and so probably disguised when they travel. Her features seem very similar to that of a dwarf, and of you and your sister, so she was probably a close relative if not a parent of you and your sister."

Elena smiled a little as she held the sketchbook a little farther away to get a look at it. Satisfied with her work, she carefully wrote the word 'Amad' above the woman, who could now be seen holding a roll of bandages in her hand.

Bilbo looked over the drawing before noticing a detail that startled him. "Elena, this woman - she has the same type of necklace that you and your sister do!"

Elena nodded. "She did in my dream, too. I kind of drew it without really thinking about it, but maybe we all got it from the same person, or maybe it's a dwarven tradition for the females, or something. We could probably ask the dwarves when they arrive to take you on a journey sometime soon," she said, looking up at Bilbo with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Bilbo threw his hands up in the air. "I give up. You and your sister are constantly hinting at this mysterious journey that I'm supposed to take, but you won't tell me a thing about it except that it involves dwarves, and that I need to know at least one type of weapon."

Elena laughed quietly. "Don't worry. I promise that we'll tell you soon. Maybe even tomorrow. But not tonight. You'll probably want a clear head for that."

"Oh, that just makes me even more concerned," Bilbo grumbled. "Fine. Just know that you _will_ be telling me what's going on, and soon," he said, pointing a finger at her.

Elena smirked. "Don't worry. I will. Eventually."

Bilbo rolled his eyes and stood up. "I believe you. Do you want a cup of tea, or are you going to head back to bed now that you're done? It's still pretty early in the morning, after all."

Elena raised an eyebrow, fighting back a yawn. "Are you?"

Bilbo smiled a little, grabbing his cup and heading to the kitchen while Elena followed him. "I think I'll probably be going back to bed. The tea was just what I needed to get ready for bed again."

Elena watched him carefully put his cup in the sink. Clutching her sketchbook to her, she said, "I think I'm probably ready for bed again, too. Sketching was enough to calm me down tonight."

Bilbo smiled softly. "Good night, then, Elena."

Elena smiled back, heading down the hall to her room. "Good night, Bilbo." Carefully putting her sketchbook on the nightstand, she got into bed, blew out her candle, and was asleep within minutes.

The next day Elena decided to go on a walk while Celia was working with Mrs. Labilee at something or the other, and dragged Bilbo along with her, claiming that he needed to get used to walking a lot. Bilbo had just rolled his eyes again and claimed that he got all the exercise he needed chasing around after her and her sister, making Elena pout. In the end, though, they had set out on their walk, Bilbo holding his trusty walking stick, and Elena walking casually by his side. They walked in amiable silence for the first hour or so, before Bilbo decided to start a conversation.

"So, are you feeling any more eager to tell me anything today, Elena?" Bilbo asked casually, as they neared the cornfield of some farmer.

Elena tilted her head thoughtfully. "Maybe," she drawled after a minute, a smirk dancing about her lips.

Bilbo raised an eyebrow. "Maybe?" he repeated skeptically. "I was hoping for something a bit more... definite... than that."

Elena stopped suddenly, her previous mischievousness dropping away. "I do want to tell you, Bilbo," she said, looking Bilbo in the eye. "It's just that some of the stuff... I don't think we _can_ tell you. Not yet, at least. And some of the other things, would probably be better told at home, where Celia and I can discuss how much we should tell you. Because some of it might just cause problems for you, and neither of us want that. You'll... probably be facing enough as it is, anyways."

Elena was staring at the ground by now, thinking of the insults and loneliness that Bilbo had faced for much of the journey in the movies and book back in their old world. She was startled out of her thoughts by a slight tug on her arm, jerking her back to reality. She looked down slightly to see Bilbo smiling at her sympathetically, his hand resting her arm.

"It's alright, Elena," he said softly. "You don't have to tell me everything. I understand what you're trying to say. Well, for the most part, that is," he added with a slight laugh. Elena gave a small smile, before reverting to her solemnity.

"I can tell you a little bit here, though, if you want. To prepare you somewhat," she added.

It was Bilbo's turn, now, to tilt his head at her and study her thoughtfully. "Only if you want to," he said. "I don't want to push you. Especially if it's something bad. I know all too well what it's like to be pushed to tell your unhappy secrets when you'd much rather be left alone."

Elena smiled a little at him, guessing that he was probably referring to his nightmares after his parents were killed; and also guessing that he probably didn't want to talk about it right now either. "I don't mind telling you this part," she said. "There are a lot of bad parts, that Celia and I hope we can change, but there is some good parts, too. And there is one very big element that I feel like I should tell you know."

Bilbo raised an eyebrow again. "Should I be concerned?" he asked, a hint of a smile lurking in his face.

Elena bit her lip. "Probably, yes. The big element that I mentioned... is a dragon. The biggest known fire drake left on Middle Earth. He has a lot of names, but he's best know by the name of Smaug."

Bilbo blinked rapidly for a minute. "Ah... I see," he muttered dazedly. "And this concerns me... how? Exactly?"

Elena bit her lip again before drawing in a deep breath and blurting it all out in a rush. "You'resupposedtostealsomegoldfromhim."

Bilbo blinked again, if possible, even more confused than before. "Ah... would you mind repeating that? A bit slower, perhaps?"

Elena blushed. "Sorry. Um... you're supposed to... steal some gold from him. Or something like that." The poor hobbit's eyes were probably worn out from all this rapid blinking.

"I'm supposed to steal. From a dragon."

It wasn't a question, but Elena answered it anyways. "Pretty much, yeah."

The hobbit seemed to come back into focus, his eyes narrowing a bit on Elena. "I don't suppose you could explain exactly _why_ I'm supposed to steal from a dragon?"

Elena's eyes widened suddenly. "Shoot! Um... this isn't the best place for it. I'll explain when we get home, I promise!" she added upon seeing Bilbo look at her skeptically. "It's just that this part of the story is _really_ not something that should be explained out in the open."

Bilbo sighed, but agreed. "Fine. But I expect a full explanation - at least for this - as soon as we reach home. Along with why this much secrecy is so important." Elena nodded, biting her lip again. It really was a nervous habit she needed to kick, she though absently, before turning around and heading home with the skeptical hobbit.

xXx

Bilbo sat down in his chair with a sigh, clutching a cup of tea close to him. He had a feeling he was going to need it for this discussion, if the smirks on the faces of his adopted nieces were anything to go by. Once Celia had gotten home, she and her sister had hidden themselves in her room to discuss "what to tell him." Now they had finally come out and dragged him out to the living room, claiming they were ready to tell him now. He eyed them skeptically.

"All right, you two," he said at last. "Out with it. You look ready to burst."

Elena looked at her sister before deciding to start the conversation. "All right. First things first, then. Do you remember Gandalf the wizard?" Bilbo frowned for a moment as long-forgotten memories began to stir in his mind.

"The wandering wizard who used to set off fireworks every now and again for festivals?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow.

Elena nodded. "Close enough. Well, basically, sometime from now, when you're approximately fifty years old, he's going to come here and ask you if you'd be willing to go on an adventure with him.

Bilbo's eyebrows shot up. "But I'm forty-nine right now," he said. "That means that this quest of yours would happen sometime within the next year!" Both the girls' eyes widened.

"I was not expecting that," Celia murmured in her sister's ear.

Elena shook her head in agreement. "That was news to us," she said. "We don't know exactly when it will happen, just that it's sometime around either April or May of the year that you're fifty years old."

Bilbo took a sip of his tea thoughtfully. "So this will happen sometime next spring, then." He mulled on the thought for a minute before turning back to the girls. "So, go on then," he said. "What's this quest all about, anyways? I believe you mentioned something about a dragon?" he said to Elena.

Celia's eyes widened. "You told him about the dragon?" she hissed, poking her twin in the side.

"It came out by accident," Elena defended herself. "And we're telling him now, anyways."

Celia rolled her eyes but accepted her sister's point. "Well, at any rate, Gandalf comes up out of the blue, no warning at all, and asks you to go on an adventure with him," she continued, taking over for her sister. "You, being the self-respecting hobbit that you used to be before we came along," she added with a smirk, making Bilbo snort, "told him to shove off before disappearing inside your house."

Bilbo raised his eyebrows at that. "That sounds quite rude of me, to leave someone standing at my doorstep, unwanted adventure or not."

Celia shrugged. "It didn't really stop him. He didn't leave right away. Instead, he used his staff to carve a special looking mark on your door, that was a sign to the rest of his company to come to you.

"Apparently, he'd told them several weeks before that you'd already agreed to be their burglar." Bilbo's eyebrows were almost to his hairline by now. "Then, either the same day, or the next, dwarves start showing up at your doorstep, with a grand total of thirteen dwarves, and one wizard."

"Also, all the dwarves assumed that you knew about the adventure from the start, and were just being a coward who was backing out of his agreement when you refused to go at first," Elena piped up."So some of them were kind of rude for a while until you proved just how awesomely heroic you are. But that was several weeks later."

Bilbo held up a hand to stop them for the moment. "So, basically, I get a party of dwarves on my doorstep, all assuming that I know what's going on, when in reality, I have absolutely no clue?" The sisters exchanged a look before nodding.

"Basically, yes," Elena said. "The whole purpose of the quest was to reclaim Erebor, the dwarves' homeland, from the dragon Smaug, who'd stolen it from them many decades before. The reason they want you, is to steal the Arkenstone - a jewel called the heart of the mountain, that could be used by the leader, to call upon the dwarves of Middle Earth to unite to him. Or something like that."

"And who is this leader?" Bilbo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Elena took a breath. "Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, king under the mountain. He was there when Smaug attacked, and he stands in line to claim the throne should Erebor be retaken."

She saw the look on Bilbo's face and decided to expound on her previous statement. "He's a good leader, but he's a bit... bitter, after years of hardship and trying to care for his people, who were homeless and destitute as they wandered across Middle Earth, wounded and ill, trying to find a home in a land filled with people who would try to cheat them, simply because they were dwarves."

"Racism," Celia muttered. "It's just as hideous and wrong in this world as it was in ours." She looked up at Bilbo. "He's actually one of the one's who's really rude to you at first. But once you win him over - by spectacularly saving his life, might I add, he becomes incredibly loyal to you, trusting you like a close friend."

Bilbo nodded slowly before taking another sip of tea, taking it all in. "I take it I didn't respond well to all these strange dwarves coming in?"

Celia laughed. "Not at all. In fact, you pretty much refused to go with them until the next day, where you had to take off running after them. And you had no preparation at all. No weapons training, no warning," a teasing tone entered her voice. "No handkerchiefs."

Elena snorted and Bilbo hid a smile. "Ah, well, imagine the travesty of a Baggins leaving Bag End without a handkerchief. My father would be appalled." The three of them shared smiles.

Bilbo looked at Elena then, raising an eyebrow. "So, tell me, then. You two have been refusing to tell me anything for almost nine months, and now all of a sudden you decide to start telling me things? What are you two planning?" The sisters shared a smirk that made Bilbo sit back in his seat. "Oh, now I'm worried. What is it?" he asked, with a resigned expression on his face.

Celia snickered before answering, "Nothing really, Uncle Bilbo. We just decided that because Gandalf wanted to play such a dirty trick on you, it was only fair that you get to play one on him. We can't tell you everything, but we are going to tell you how to carry out your first meeting with the dwarves - it should help things go a lot smoother for you."

Bilbo raised both his eyebrows this time - they were getting quite a workout, he thought absentmindedly - and sighed. "Very well. Why not?"

The two sisters shared another set of wicked grins before Elena pulled out her sketchbook. "All right, then. Let's get started."

xXx

"Happy birthday!" Bilbo called out with a smile on his face, carrying a large cake pan out of the kitchen. Elena and Celia were sitting blindfolded at the table, expectant grins on their faces.

"You know, you didn't have to go to all this work, Uncle Bilbo," Celia called. "Neither of us really wanted a party or anything."

"Speak for yourself!" her sister scoffed, jabbing her sister in the side with an elbow. "I am totally fine with you bringing us cake, Uncle Bilbo!" she called eagerly at the direction she believed Bilbo to be in.

Bilbo laughed. "Don't worry, Elena. I made plenty of cake for you." He quietly set the cake pan down on the table in front of the sisters, ensuring that they had heard nothing, before silently slipping behind them. Pulling off the blindfolds, he made a discreet nod.

"SURPRISE!" the small crowd shouted as Elena and Celia blinked in shock.

Standing in front of them were the hobbits they had come to love during their ten month stay in the Shire. Mrs. Labilee, the chief healer in Hobbiton stood at one end, beaming proudly. Next to her stood the Proudfoot family, the new baby grinning toothlessly in his mother's arms, Pearl and Chrissy Brownleaf, several Tooks, and little Myrtle Grub and her family.

The gathering laughed at the look of shock on the twins' faces. "You really should have expected this," Mrs. Labilee said, chuckling. "Did you really think that we'd let your first birthday in the Shire pass by unnoticed?"

Bilbo shook his head sadly, coming out from behind the girls to join the crowd. "I don't know. They can be rather unobservant at times. It's sad, really. Especially considering the amount of times one of us nearly said something and spoiled it all."

"Hey!" Elena protested. "I pay attention! I just... didn't assume you'd do something like this."

Bilbo tilted his head to the side, smirking. "Really? Are we just going to forget about the squirrel incident then?"

Elena flushed. "You promised you wouldn't bring that up again!" she pouted.

Celia snickered. "But I didn't!" she said with a grin. "Who wants to hear the tale of my sister and the squirrel?" she asked the crowd as Bilbo began cutting the cake.

"Ooh, ooh, I want to hear it!" Myrtle shouted, squirming in her mother's arms until she put her down, before coming over to Celia and claiming her place on her lap. The rest of the group shouted eagerly in confirmation, taking their places at the table, ignoring the still pouting Elena. Bilbo grinned, waiting for the tale to begin.

"Well, several months ago, as you know, it was very early in the spring, somewhat melted snow on the ground, the temperature just barely beginning to warm up, and my sister, the ever bright Elena," Celia chuckled, slinging an arm around her sister, "Decided to go outside to sketch something.

"All dressed up for the cold, she set out eagerly into the winter, unaware that I was following her, having nothing better to do, also knowing what she could be like when she started sketching. Sure enough, she found a patch on the ground that didn't look to wet or snowy, sat down, and began to sketch the scenery. All was well, going fine... until along came a squirrel."

Elena flushed deeper, putting her head onto the table with a thump. "Someone put me out of my misery," she begged to no one in particular.

"As soon as my sister saw the squirrel, her attention became riveted to it, waiting for it to calm down, before it began cautiously entering the clearing and digging for some of its nuts," Celia continued, ignoring her sister's plight with a mischievous grin. "As soon as it had reached what she considered the perfect pose, she quickly began sketching it, eager to get the animal into her scene. It scampered away after a few minutes, but the damage had been done," she said with a mock sigh, taking her arm off her sister and putting it to her forehead in a dramatic pose, earning a few chuckles.

"Elena sat there for the next half hour, determined to get the shading just right on the creature, completely focused on that. So focused, in fact, that she completely ignored the deer that came wandering into the clearing sometime after that."

Pearl and Chrissy were snickering, able to guess where this was going. Bilbo, who knew the story, was still smiling, the rest of the adults were exchanging laughing glances, and Elena's head was still firmly stuck to the table. Celia's eyes were alight with humor as she continued her tale.

"She also completely missed the part where I grabbed my bow, which I had brought with me just in case I came across something, strung it, grabbed an arrow, and brought down the deer approximately twelve feet from where she was sitting. She then proceeded to be completely oblivious to me skinning and butchering the deer, bringing it home, coming back to the clearing, and sitting right behind her, where I became curious and decided to start an experiment."

"What'd you do?" Myrtle asked, wide brown eyes looking up at Celia.

"Be a horrible sister, that's what," Elena growled. Celia snickered, not at all put out by her sister's mock temper.

"I decided to put some snow down her back and see if she'd notice. She didn't." The entire table was laughing by now. "So I decided to get some more and put it on her neck so that it'd trickle down her back. Still no reaction, except for a slight shiver that was more automatic than anything she consciously did. This went on for another five minutes before I got bored and started to build a snowman just for the heck of it. I had just finished when she showed signs of finishing up, and crept behind her, grabbing a bunch of snow and making a snowball.

"She looked up - for some reason thinking the squirrel was still there, and gave a shocked gasp when she saw the blood from the deer. I tapped her on the shoulder and she let out a scream, whirling around just in time for me to hit her in the face with the snowball." The table was in an uproar by now, even Bilbo, who had heard the story before, couldn't help but get caught up in the laughter.

When it started to calm down, Elena lifted her head from the table and looked Bilbo in the eye. "I hate you all," she grumbled, provoking another round of laughter that she couldn't help but join in.

"On that note, I think it's time for cake and presents," Bilbo declared, handing out plates of cake.

"I change my mind. I love you again, Bilbo!" Elena said, grabbing her slice eagerly.

Bilbo smiled before saying, "Now, the normal practice in the Shire is for the birthday person to give gifts to the guests, however, in honor of it being your first birthday here, we decided to make a bit of an exception and give you gifts this time."

Myrtle looked up at her mother, who nodded, before pulling two crumpled pieces of paper out of a pocket on her dress and giving one apiece to the girls. "I drawed these for you," she said shyly.

Both the papers had stick figure drawings of the girls building snowmen, and skating, holding hands with a curly haired stick figure that must have been Myrtle.

"Thank you, Myrtle!" Celia exclaimed, hugging the little hobbit.

"I'm grateful too," Elena said, leaning across her sister to give Myrtle a hug. The hobbit grinned up at her before grabbing another slice of cake and digging into it eagerly.

By the end of the night, everyone was stuffed, and Celia and Elena felt almost overwhelmed with the number of gifts that they had gotten, which included more drawing pencils for Elena and a set of flower hair pins for Celia.

"Thank you everyone!" Celia said, giving a hug to everyone as the hobbits began to trickle out the door into the mid July evening.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Elena said, giving Pearl a hug before she left. Once the door shut behind the last guest, the two girls told Bilbo to sit while they cleared the dishes. "You've done enough for us already today," Elena told him, her tone brooking no argument.

Bilbo merely smiled. "I haven't given you your presents, yet, though."

Elena's eyes widened. "Oh. I didn't, I didn't mean that you had to give us anything," she stammered.

Bilbo shook his head at her. "I don't have to, I want to. July 21st is the day that you celebrate your birthday, and I want to do something special about it too. You girls have become like family to me, and that means that I've got gifts for you two."

Reaching around behind a chair, he pulled two packages out and gave them to the girls. Sitting down on the floor, Celia opened hers first while the other two watched. Inside was a carefully braided leather bracelet that held a beautiful blue bead with silver designs spiraling around the bead.

"It's beautiful, thank you Uncle Bilbo!" Celia cried, getting up from her seat to give him a hug.

"It's not much, but you're welcome," he said, returning the hug. Elena opened hers next. Like Celia, she had been given a bracelet, only hers was a delicate purple with the same silvery designs running around it.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, giving Bilbo a hug as well. "Could you put it on?" she asked, holding her wrist out.

Bilbo smiled. "Of course," he said, carefully putting the bracelets on both Celia and Elena.

"Do these say something, Uncle Bilbo?" Celia asked, staring at the bead. "It almost looks like runes on the bead."

Bilbo smiled shyly. "Sort of. They form the old hobbitish rune for 'family.'

Celia's eyes widened. Throwing her arms around the hobbit, she thanked him again. He chuckled, patting her on the back. "It's not much, but for those who hold to the very old ways, it basically means that I've formally accepted you into my family, as it were. No one really follows that nowadays, but I thought it would be a nice gift."

"It's perfect," Elena declared, joining in the hug. "You're family now, just as much as our adopted mother back on our old world." Her tone brooked no arguments.

Bilbo smiled, not desiring to give any. For the first time since his parents had been killed, the empty holes in his heart had finally begun to fill.

* * *

 **A/N: When Bilbo referred to himself as a 'tween,' that is roughly equivalent to a teenager in our terms. On another note, we should be seeing the dwarves in a chapter or two. :)**

 **And yes. Bilbo's parents were not killed in canon, I'm changing that for the purposes of this story.**

 **Shoutout to MissCallaLilly, thewolf74, a guest, and Kirgy504yahoo for reviewing!**

 **Thank you all for reviewing, favoriting, and following; it made me so happy to see them all! In answer to a few questions... the girls' mother is very important... but not right now. She'll be showing up in later chapters, with what I hope is a surprising plot twist. Their birth parents and their jewelry will be explained soon... very soon. ;)**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! :)** **  
**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR or the Hobbit. They belong to the JRR Tolkien estate. Celia and Elena, however, are all mine.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Life in the Shire, Part 3

**Warning: Minor character death and brief mention of blood**

~~Celia~~

"Okay, Uncle Bilbo, I know you said that you didn't want any presents, but Elena and I got you some anyways," Celia said cheerfully, reaching behind the armchair and pulling out a small, wrapped package. Looking gleefully up at the hobbit sitting in said armchair, she couldn't help but smirk as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"You know," he said mildly, as he watched her put the present in his lap and return to her place by Elena on the couch, "It's hobbit tradition for the birthday person to give _away_ gifts on their birthday, not _receive_ them."

Elena laughed. "Considering that we got gifts for our birthday as well, I think it's only fair that you get some on your birthday. Consider it to be even after this, and we can start following hobbit traditions from now on."

Bilbo shook his head amusedly. "My poor father - his only child abandoning the most sacred of the Baggins code - tradition."

Celia shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe he'd just be happy that you're not sulking in your armchair anymore, waiting for an awesome girl and her nerdy brunette sister to come flying into your life."

Bilbo tossed his head back and laughed. "Because that's exactly what I was doing," he commented sarcastically. He paused for a moment before laughing again and saying, "My mother, however, would be thrilled that I had essentially adopted two dwarf girls, and was planning on going on a most likely suicidal journey with a bunch of dwarves I've never met. She always was a Took to the last." A sad light entered his eyes. "I only wished she could have met you - she would have loved you both."

Celia and Elena exchanged a look. While they knew that Bilbo's parents had died in a different way than the books of their world told, and that he had been quite a bit younger, they still didn't know what exactly had happened.

They gave him a few moments of quiet to regain his composure before Elena said softly, "Would you like to open your presents now?"

Bilbo startled a bit, having almost forgotten that they were there. He looked gratefully at the twins before glancing down at his lap and nodding. "Why not?" he agreed with a slightly sad smile on his face. The twins exchanged hopeful looks before settling back to watch as he lifted the small package from his lap and began to examine it.

"It seems awfully light," he commented, hefting it experimentally in one hand. "Are you sure you remembered to put the present in?"

Celia slapped a hand to her forehead. "Dang it!" she exclaimed. "I knew we forgot something!"

Bilbo chuckled as Elena rolled her eyes, carefully unwrapping the present and setting the cloth aside. Lifting up the object in his hand, he looked at it curiously. In his hand was a circular, golden locket, that bore the image of a paintbrush and a palette on one side, and on the other was a symbol he didn't recognize - a staff, with a snake wrapped around it.

"It's the staff of Asclepius," Celia explained when she saw him looking at it curiously. "It's often used as a symbol for healers in our old world," she said, indicating herself and Elena. "Take a look at the inside."

Bilbo carefully undid the clasp on the locket and opened it up. On one side was a detailed drawing by Elena of the three of them, smiling as if posed for a portrait. And on the other was an inscription in Celia's neat handwriting. _'Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what. Thank you for letting us become a part of your family. Love, Elena and Celia, 2940, TA.'_

Bilbo's eyes were suspiciously damp, but he merely smiled when he finished reading the words, shutting the locket carefully and lacing it around his neck. "Thank you both," he said softly, "For letting _me_ become a part of _your_ family. It means more than I can ever tell you. And I can tell you here and now that I have no intentions of ever taking this locket off."

Both girls, who had looked slightly nervous about the reception of their gift until now, grinned widely, getting up from their spot to give the hobbit a hug before returning to their seats.

"That's not all, Uncle Bilbo!" Elena said excitedly. "We have one more present for you."

"Well, sort of present," Celia interrupted. "And it's more from Elena than me. She did all the work."

Elena rolled her eyes again. "It was Cel's idea. But she was right that it wasn't exactly a present. It's more like a... visual aid for the journey next year." She pulled a sheaf of papers from behind her and handed them to Bilbo, who looked it over curiously.

Simply put, it was a drawing of thirteen faces, with names written at the top of them. Some of them he recognized from a few of Elena's previous drawings, such as Thorin Oakenshield, and Balin; but others were strange to him, such as Bofur, Óin, Glóin, Bífur - did he have an _axe_ in his forehead?

Celia saw him stop short and peered over his shoulder to see who he was looking at. "Oh, that's Bífur," she said knowingly. "He's part of the reason we decided to make this for you - this way you won't be startled when he shows up, and stare at him, which would probably be a bit awkward and embarrassing for the both of you."

Bilbo nodded. "That's a good idea," he admitted. "But what was the other reason?"

Elena shrugged halfheartedly. "Basically to help it be less awkward for you when they show up unannounced at your house - it might make it easier on you if you don't have to keep asking their names. Plus, it might gain you a few brownie points if they think that you can remember all of their names having only heard them once."

Bilbo raised an eyebrow. "Brownie points?" he said curiously. "Is this another term from... your world?"

Elena flushed. "Sorry. Yeah. It basically means you get liked/respected a bit more. And you already know why that could help."

Bilbo nodded. "Because Gandalf wants me to be more adventurous, and he thinks that the best way to do that is to humiliate me in my home," he said dryly.

Celia frowned. "What do you mean humiliate? I mean, I get that it'd be awkward, but why humiliating?"

Bilbo shook his head. "If it got sprung on me the way you two described, then I would have had no proper food prepared for my guests, and that is the ultimate sign of disgrace for a hobbit - it shows either an almost complete disrespect of your guests, or the inability of the host to be a proper gentleman or lady, and basically no better than a Sacksville-Baggins!"

Celia's eyes widened. "I had no idea it was like that. No wonder he was so upset in the movie," she muttered in an aside to her sister, who nodded in agreement. Then her eyes widened again as she remembered something else. "Oh, and we completely forgot about this, but Dwalin will most likely be the first one to show up - probably to scout out the place for traps, as he's basically Thorin's bodyguard, and it might be a good idea to look him in the eye when you greet him."

Bilbo shook his head, a small smile on his face. "I'm guessing I do the complete opposite in your version of the story, and basically completely muck up the whole evening, and be a complete, stand-offish Baggins?"

Elena snickered. "Pretty much. It was almost painful to watch. You were so clueless, and the dwarves were no help at all - especially Thorin. He was basically a complete jerk to you for the first part of the journey until you proved yourself and basically saved his life when he did something really stupid."

Bilbo watched her curiously. They had told him only a small amount of what would actually happen on the journey, claiming that most of his triumphs were achieved by him following his instincts, and just being himself. "I'm assuming that things changed after that point - whatever it was?" he asked.

Elena nodded. "It was like a complete turn-around. I mean, he was barely semi-decent to you before, but once you proved your loyalty, he actually became close friends with you, and trusted you a great deal."

"You actually become friends with practically the entire Company," Celia said thoughtfully. "And even the ones you weren't as close with still trusted and liked you by the end." She turned to Bilbo, a mischievous smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. "So, do you know everything that you have to do now?"

Bilbo sighed, dropping his head dramatically. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Ticking off his fingers as he went, he continued, "I have to keep practicing with my knife throwing so that I'm not completely useless from the start, work on my pick-pocketing skills, and now memorize the names and faces of thirteen different dwarves."

Elena nodded smugly. "That's right. I may prefer the axes, but I can tell that you work much better with knives than you ever could with axes. You'd probably be more of a danger to yourself than anyone else."

Bilbo eyed her for a moment. "I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not."

Celia smirked. "I would be insulted, if I were you."

Bilbo was glaring at both of them now. "That's it. I'm giving the rest of the crumble cake to the Gamgees." Getting up, he strode into the kitchen, ignoring the sudden yelps and pleadings for forgiveness coming from the living room. Celia watched him go, before turning to her sister, who wore the same frown on her face before it melted into laughter.

"He found our one weak spot and exploited it. We should never have let him know that we liked it so much." Celia snickered. "But we know his. We could just invite Lobelia Sackville-Baggins over for a visit."

Elena snorted. "As if she'd accept. I think she's still mad about the fact that, 'Bilbo Baggins is perfectly willing to hand over Bag End to some complete strangers, and dwarves, no less,'" she imitated, parroting the older woman's shrill voice almost perfectly.

Celia shrugged. "It's not like he'd know that. She was very careful to make sure that he wasn't around when she made her opinion of us known. And besides, she'd probably be willing to come over anyways, just to try and make off with some of his silver spoons."

Elena chuckled. "I never truly understood just how awful she was until I met her in person. Apparently, there's some character traits that words just can't describe. That, or Tolkien just didn't want to spend much time on such an unpleasant woman," she contemplated.

Celia shrugged, hiding a smile as she reluctantly got up and stretched, groaning as something popped before giving her sister a hand up. "We should go before Bilbo realizes that we already finished off the cake," she said.

Elena nodded. "There are few things scarier than Bilbo when he realizes that his pantry has been pilfered without his consent." Casting a nervous glance at the kitchen, where Bilbo was about to find the crumbs of the crumble cake, the girls carefully snuck out of the room.

xXx

Celia could tell that something was wrong as soon as she left her room early on a December morning, and found Bilbo sitting in his armchair, with no cup of tea in sight, and staring into a cold and empty hearth.

Elena was still asleep, and would be for some time, so Celia soundlessly withdrew to her room to get a blanket, which she wrapped around her shoulders as some protection from the cold that had fallen over the home, and returned to the living room, sitting on the chair across from Bilbo. If he noticed her entry, he gave no sign of it, and continued staring into the empty fireplace. After a few minutes of this, Celia gave a quiet sigh and moved into the kitchen, where she made two cups of tea and brought them out to the living room.

Setting the cups down on the side table, she gently shook Bilbo's shoulders. "Bilbo," she said softly but urgently. "Bilbo, are you all right?" she repeated.

Bilbo blinked suddenly, before glancing at her, startled. "Celia, I-I didn't notice you come in," he stammered.

Celia frowned. "I've been here for at least five minutes, Uncle Bilbo," she said. "You didn't notice when I came in a few minutes before that, either, before I left to make us some tea... are you all right, Uncle Bilbo?" she asked concernedly.

Bilbo flushed. "I-I must have been lost in thought. And I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for the tea," he said, in a clear attempt at dismissal. Unfortunately for him, Celia was a bit too stubborn to give up when it came to the health of the people she care about - a fact that Elena had more than enough proof for.

Grabbing her cup of tea off of the table and sitting down in the chair, she stared at Bilbo determinedly. "Why do I get the feeling that that's not the whole truth?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

A scowl began to form on Bilbo's face. "Does it matter?" he snapped defensively. Celia waited silently, not taking offense. A minute later Bilbo sighed and drew a hand over his face. "Sorry. You didn't deserve that." Celia nodded, but remained silent, knowing that Bilbo needed to get this out. After a moment, when it became obvious that she wasn't going to speak again, Bilbo drew a long breath before letting it out. "It's just - this time of year is rather hard for me. Always has been. It's gotten better over time, but it's still hard."

Celia tilted her head. "What has?" she asked softly.

Bilbo eyed her for a moment. "Don't think that I don't know exactly what you're trying to get me to do here. And I appreciate it. Really, I do. It's been a long time since I had family - real, actual family, like this. But that doesn't make it any easier to talk about."

Celia nodded. "I kind of expected as much," she admitted. "I mean, yes, I'm curious, but my main concern was to just get you looking more alive than moving as if you were on automatic control."

Bilbo smiled a little. "Well, it worked. And I was planning on telling you at some point," he sighed. "I just wish it hadn't had to be today."

Celia eyed him with concern. "You don't have to tell me, you know. Today or any other day."

Bilbo shook his head. "No, I'd rather get it over with. Elena already knows a bit of it, anyways."

Celia looked startled. "Really? I didn't know that."

Bilbo shrugged, taking a sip of the tea that had started to cool off by now. "I imagine she thought it something I wanted to be kept private, and so never brought it up."

Celia thought about it for a minute before nodding. "That makes sense," she said.

Bilbo paused for a moment before adding, "You can tell her, you know. What I'm about to tell you. I don't mind. Just... please don't go bringing it up in public, if you don't mind?"

Celia gave him a look that said _'obviously.'_

Right then," Bilbo sighed. "I suppose you could say it started in the early winter right about this time about... oh, about twenty-two years ago, now. I was 28 years old, still just a tween. And an early winter had come upon us, harsher than any we'd had for decades..."

xXx

 _"Bilbo, I need you to run and climb a tree. Do you hear me? Run and don't look back, no matter what you hear!"_

 _Bilbo nodded, terrified. The howls were closer now. They had been scented. The fact that the winter had come early, killing most of their crops early had been bad enough. But then the Brandywine, their main defense against enemies, had frozen over. And then the wolves had come._

 _At first it had just been one or two. Easily managed, if unexpected. But then, as time had gone on, and the winter had shown no signs of letting up anytime soon, the wolves had become more desperate. Coming into the Shire in packs, driving all the hobbits to barricade their doors, only venturing outside when the threat of starvation won out against the threat of wolves and frostbite._

 _Unfortunately, the wolves had only become even more desperate, even attacking the homes themselves, clawing the doors open and ravaging whatever remained inside, including, sometimes, the occupants._

 _Bungo, Bilbo's father, had made sure when he built it that Bag End had been strong, and so it had been now, surviving all the attacks against it, so far. Unfortunately for Bilbo, that meant long nights where no one slept, curled up against his mother, hearing nothing but the sound of their growling stomachs and the relentless scratching of the wolves against the door above their heads. Even when it finally stopped, there was no relief... only the wonder of which of their friends or neighbors would be the next target._

 _When they finally ran out of food, they reluctantly ventured out of the house, hoping that there would be some safety in numbers, Belladonna being the only one actually armed out of the three. She had a dwarvish dagger that she had won from some dwarf on one of her travels. Bungo held an axe used for cutting firewood, and Bilbo held a poker from the fireplace._

 _They had hoped to reach Tuckborough, and stay with Belladonna's kin for the rest of the winter. Unfortunately, they were still some distance from Tuckborough when the wolves found them. The howls of the wolves indicated that they had found live prey, and they had all frozen for a moment, knowing that there was almost no chance of survival for them, but took off anyways._

 _They ran until they reached a clearing, with the howls of the wolves closing in. Belladonna had stopped, swinging around to exchange a look with her husband. He looked at her sadly before nodding. Striding towards Bilbo, he engulfed him in a giant hug._

 _"I love you, son. Never forget that. Be all that you can be, but never lose sight of who you really are. And - be brave." Reaching his wife's side, he tenderly placed a hand upon her cheek and lifted her head up. Swiping a tear away, he said softly. "It's alright, Belle, really, it is. I'll see you again in Yavanna's Garden."_

 _Sniffing a little, Belladonna nodded, swiping a few more tears from her eyes. "See you there," she said brokenly. Pulling her in for a tender kiss, he gently caressed her face before pulling away and running toward the wolves, large stick in hand that he'd picked up along the way._

 _Belladonna drew in a shuddering breath before turning to look at her son, tears still shimmering in her brown eyes as she turned to look at her son who imitated his father in everything but his eyes, that he got straight from her._

 _"Follow me, Bilbo," she said firmly, not allowing any sign of her heartbreak to show on her face._

 _Bilbo sniffed, understanding full well just what was going on, but followed his mother without argument, running, trying and failing to ignore the howls that seemed to slow down briefly, turning into snarls and whimpers, before speeding up again, sounding more vicious and victorious than before. He was panting by then, weak from lack of food and breathing heavily from both tears and lack of oxygen, when Belladonna pulled them to a sudden stop. When she told him that she couldn't_ _go on any longer, and he had to run._

 _"Don't look back, Bilbo. Just stay in the trees until it's safe. You're smart. You can make it to Tuckborough on your own. Just be careful. I love you. Now go." Pulling him in for a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead, she pushed him gently away. Choking back a sob, Bilbo's last sight of his mother was of her determinedly drawing her dagger before the trees blocked his sight of her._

 _Running as far as he could before the tears blinded his eyes, he hadn't gone far enough when he could hear the snarls of the wolves beginning anew - and much closer than they had been last time. Panicked, he swiped his hand across his half-frozen face and picked a tree that looked to be climbable. He was only halfway up when the sounds of a fight reached his ears._

 _Hastily climbing higher, he looked desperately in the direction of the sounds, both hoping and dreading to see something._

 _"Please, somebody help us!" he called, voice breaking on the last two words. He called out over and over, desperate for someone to hear their voice, and to answer. But it was not the one he was looking for. A few wolves came bounding towards the tree, leaping up in an attempt to reach him._

 _The sight of red on their fur, and dripping from their mouths made Bilbo abandon the complete maturity that every tween has before they realize that they aren't that grown up after all, and cry out for his mother. "Mama!" he called. "Papa! Please!" he cried, before breaking down and hiding his face in the tree, hardly hearing the baying of the wolves at the base of the tree and letting the darkness overtake him._

 _It was a few hours later when he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him. He started to stir, before the memories hit him. He jerked upright, nearly falling off his tree branch if the hand hadn't steadied him. He looked up at his savior to see one of the Big Folk - a ranger, if the cloak was anything to go by - staring back at him._

 _"Are you all right, Master Hobbit?" the man asked, a soft accent tinting his voice._

 _Bilbo blinked before finding his voice, weak from cold and grief._ _"I-I'm n-not sure," he managed to say. "I-I think s-so."_

 _The ranger nodded, looking at him sympathetically. "Do you think you could make it down the tree?"_

 _Bilbo nodded hesitantly._

 _The ranger helped him down, carefully testing each branch before placing his weight on it. When the reached the bottom, Bilbo looked around, only to stop when he saw the pristine whiteness of the snow marred by the bodies of three large wolves to one side of the tree, each bristling with arrows, and the snow surrounding them drenched with red. Bilbo only had time to look for a second before he felt his stomach rebel, and he barely made it in time to the bushes to toss up whatever was left in his stomach._

 _He felt a soothing hand on his back after a minute, followed by a comforting voice. "I apologize. I should have realized the sight would upset you. Particularly such a young hobbit."_

 _Bilbo felt a trickle of his old attitude coming back, although it only lasted long enough for him to mutter petulantly, "I'm twenty-eight," before he began feeling sick again._

 _Once it was all over, the ranger lead Bilbo to a campfire, where a few of his companions were sitting around it, warming their hands and discreetly watching him out of the corner of their eyes. Once they had cleared a place for Bilbo to sit, the ranger offered him some jerky and warm water to eat, then sat down beside him._

 _"My name is Aradan," he said calmly. "What's yours?"_

 _Bilbo swallowed a bite of the jerky, feeling a strange numbness washing over him. "Bilbo Baggins, of Bag End," he said. The thought that he was now master of Bag End began to niggle in the back of his mind, but something quashed it before he even had a chance to consciously notice it, manifesting itself only in a shiver, that quickly led to a blanket being tossed around his shoulders. "Thank you," he said, nodding at Aradan, who smiled a little sadly, only to whip around, his hand going to his belt, which Bilbo only now noticed held a sword, when a branch cracked behind him._

 _Bilbo looked up nervously, only to relax upon seeing another one of the rangers enter the clearing and whisper a few words into Aradan's ear and hand him something. The ranger nodded, saying something in return, before turning to Bilbo._

 _"Do you know the owner of this knife," he asked, holding out a dagger that made Bilbo's blood freeze._

 _"M-my m-mother's," he managed to stammer out, the tears suddenly threatening to drown him._

 _Aradan smiled a little at him. "Fear not. Your mother is alive, Master Baggins, although gravely wounded. If we can get her to a proper healer in time, she shall live."_

xXx

Celia was wide-eyed by the time Bilbo finished his tale, a few tears swimming in her own eyes. "So, what happened then, to your mother?" she asked, pausing to clear her throat. "Was - was she all right?"

Bilbo paused, looking down at the ground. "My mother was alive," he said quietly. "But that was about all that could be said. She had been gravely injured, and they didn't let me see her until their healers had taken a look at her. It was a wise idea, I suppose," he admitted. "But I hated it, at the time. And I hated it even more that we had to go to Rivendell for the duration of the year for my mother to heal, for she had always been counted a friend of the leader there, Lord Elrond, by name.

"We sent word back home, of what had happened. And eventually we were able to return, but our troubles were just beginning. My mother would need constant care, unable to even walk by herself. And once we had returned... Camelia Sackville, who's almost worse than her daughter Lobelia, and had always been envious of Bag End, tried to take Bag End from us, claiming that I was too young to take care of my mother and my home, seeing as I was still only twenty-nine, and four years away from my majority.

"She said that a responsible adult should take over the home, and that she, as a close friend of the family, should be the one to do so. She won a surprising amount of support, too, particularly from several of the Baggins' family, who'd always gotten along with Camelia, if for no other reason than their dislike of my mother. If it hadn't been for the fact that my mother could still talk, and that we had the Thain, my grandfather, on our side... I probably would have lost Bag End.

"Together we managed to keep Bag End and convince everyone that I was mature enough to keep it." Bilbo snorted bitterly. "As if my father's will detailing that Bag End was mine and being signed by seven different witnesses wasn't enough. My mother, though, once we had ensured Bag End, began to... fade, for lack of a better word. She was incredibly weak after the Fell Winter, and the loss of my father as well. She hung on, for my sake, until I reached my thirty-third birthday and came of age. Then she passed on, quiet and swift, in her sleep."

"Oh, Bilbo," Celia said, tears shining in her eyes, "I'm so sorry!" Reaching forward, she set her tea down and wrapped Bilbo in a hug that he at first resisted before giving in and wrapping his arms around her.

"Me too," a voice said suddenly, causing the two to jump as another set of arms was wrapped around them. Elena didn't laugh, though, as she normally might, instead just hugging both of them tighter, as images filled her mind.

A smaller Bilbo, clinging to a tree, with tears running down his face. A blurry face, standing over her, telling her to run and take her sister with her. The sound of wolves howling, bringing fear and pain and loss with them. But she said none of her thoughts. Instead, another plan began to formulate in her mind.

"Celia, I think that Camelia Sackville is due a visit, don't you?"

Catching on to her sister's drift, Celia gave a shaky laugh. "Yeah. I think so."

Bilbo shook his head, although he didn't let go of either of them. "Whatever you're planning, I don't want to know. But - good luck," he said, with a soft smile.

And if any of the inhabitants of Hobbiton noticed that Camelia Sackville began to have a streak of unfortunate incidences, such as the disappearance of many of her spoons, moldy food hidden very well in her pantry, weeds starting to grow like, well, weeds, in her garden... well, nobody said anything. After all, it was Camelia. She deserved it. Whoever was doing it, they most likely had a very, very good cause for doing so.

xXx

Celia pushed open the back door to Bag End softly, beckoning her sister to follow her. Carefully pulling off their boots, they crept into the pantry, only to stop in shock at the sight before them. It was completely demolished. Hardly a crumb of food was to be found. Celia stared at her sister, dumbfounded.

"What happened?" she mouthed.

Elena just shrugged, as clueless as her sister. Drawing her dagger - "Just in case," she mouthed at her sister's suspicious look, before she crept into the kitchen.

On the table were nearly all the dishes that used to be in the pantry and drawers, clean and stacked neatly in piles. Creeping up to look at it, Celia furrowed her brow. She couldn't help but feel that this looked familiar for some reason.

Still trying to be quiet, and not alert Bilbo to the fact that she and Elena were only now returning home, she turned around, only to accidentally brush a wooden platter sitting near the edge of the table with her elbow. Thankfully, there were no other dishes on top of it, but it still managed to fall to the floor with a clatter, making the twins freeze as the sound that they only now registered as talking near the front of the house, came to an abrupt stop.

Bilbo's tired voice rang out suddenly. "El? Cel? Would you both mind coming here, please?"

Celia exchanged a look with her sister that clearly read _'we're screwed.'_ Slipping her quiver off her shoulder, she waited until Elena had returned her dagger to its sheath before walking into the living room with guilty expressions, although they both secretly hoped that the hoods over their heads helped hide those.

Seeing no one in the living room, they continued on toward the entryway, only to freeze on the spot, as their startled expressions matched that of thirteen dwarves, and one very confused and befuddled wizard.

* * *

 **A/N: First of all, on the off chance you hadn't noticed, I have changed Bilbo's backstory quite a bit. Second, for a hobbit, being 28 would be like us being around 16-18 years of age - almost an adult, but not quite. And, last but not least, we will finally be seeing the dwarves next chapter! It will be from Bilbo's POV, and will set up the arrival of the Company.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed, and shout-out to MissCallaLilly, thewolf74, guest, Illogical Human, and SortingHat for reviewing!**

 **Now, SortingHat left a long review with some considerations, but I can't find their account on the site to respond, and in case others had considered the same points, I'll just answer it here:**

 ** _Yes, there are several cliches in this story. I suppose the biggest one is that they were taken to a fictional land with hot fictional characters, and there will be romance at some point. I'm going to try to avoid the worst of them, but some... are unavoidable. I wrote the twins as being able to communicate some ideas/feelings without speaking because that is something I have seen in many people who are close to others. People who spend all their time with another person become very good at understanding each other.  
Although, I have to admit that them being twins is very... cliche-y, and something I didn't even think about until you pointed it out. Thank you for that.  
_ _But the second cliche that you pointed out, no modern weapons, is not entirely valid, I feel, as the entire storyline is essentially set in the past. While I am a firm supporter of the 2nd Amendment, it wouldn't have made sense to have the girls practice using rifles, or some other kind of gun in the first chapter, then immediately drop all mentions of it when they came to Bag End - they would have no way of making ammunition, either, so it would be somewhat pointless to give it to them.  
_ _I specifically wrote them as having the desire to practice old-fashioned weapons because I wanted it to point back to their roots, and the influence it had upon them. That should be clarified more in future chapters.  
Your next point... I'd completely forgotten that Wattpad requires you to register to read, to be honest. I'm not sure what you mean by my "yes group", but the reason I pointed it out was because there are things there that I haven't published here, and things I've published here that I haven't there. If anyone was interested, or wanted to read ahead, they could do it there. I hope that clears up any of the problems/questions this story caused, and thank you for reviewing honestly. The cliches are something I'll have to watch out for, even unintentionally. :)_**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: Regretfully, I do not own LOTR or the Hobbit, or they would have a much different ending...**

 **Edit 9/26/2017: Camelia was actually a Bracegirdle, not a Sacksville-Baggins...Lobelia married into that family...Thanks to the reviewer who pointed that out!**


	7. Chapter 7 - An Expected Surprise Party

_Dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the attacks on September 11, 2001, and their families. May we never forget_.

Bilbo hummed a bit as he finished drying off the last few dishes from his breakfast. He huffed a laugh as he though of what his neighbors would say if they could see him now - already finished with first breakfast, and no plans for having second breakfast. Some of them already thought he was mad, taking in a couple of young dwarves just barely out of the equivalent of their tweens.

And if they heard that he had cut down from seven meals a day to three - albeit slightly larger than normal - because said dwarves had told him he'd be going on an adventure, where food would be hard to come by, and it'd be best to start getting used to it now... He shook his head, smiling. He could only imagine what his mother would say. She'd probably be proud.

There had been a fair bit of talk when word got out that he had essentially adopted the two young girls, but he had not been master of Bag End for over twenty years for nothing. Not only was he the head of the Baggins family, but he also owned and rented out nearly a quarter of the land in Hobbiton and the surrounding areas. As such, it had been very easy for him to put any gossip to rest very quickly.

Although, he could still remember with a sort of wicked glee Lobelia's face when he told her that he was considering making Celia and Elena his heirs, and having them inherit Bag End instead of her and her husband. He'd allowed himself a few minutes to enjoy the look of shock on her face before politely escorting her to the door of his home, relieving her of the silver spoons she'd tried to make off with, and wished her a good night as she left, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Not that he had really made Celia and Elena his heirs - they had both suggested that he made another hobbit lad his heir, a Drogo Baggins by name. Apparently, his son would be playing a crucial part in both Bilbo's, and the world's, future. Bilbo had given in with no complaint. Drogo was a nice lad, and he would prefer almost anyone to Lobelia getting their hands on Bag End, so he hadn't really minded in the end.

Drogo had been bewildered when Bilbo had mentioned the idea to him, but had eventually agreed, so they had gone to the Thain and gotten Bilbo's will officially completed and signed. Bilbo had also gone with the girls' advice, and included a note in it that stated that if he were to ever go missing, they were to wait at least three years before declaring him dead, and carrying out his will.

He had also stated very clearly that the Sacksville-Baggins' were to get nothing at all. He could only imagine what Lobelia's face would look like when she found out that particular piece of news, but he could practically feel his mother's pride when he'd come up with the idea.

He chuckled, wishing he could be there to see the look on her face as he pulled out his pipe, deciding to enjoy some of the peace and quiet while the twins were away on a camping trip. Heading outside, he carefully lit his pipe, and sat down on his bench to enjoy the morning sun. Closing his eyes, he leaned back a bit to relax and just let his thoughts wander.

Only to start coughing as one of his smoke rings returned to him and flew into his face. He opened his eyes, startled. Standing at his gate was one of the Big Folk, dressed all in gray, with a gray beard to match, and a pointed hat upon his head. Bilbo swallowed in shock. This could only be Gandalf the Gray, the traveling wizard, who had come to offer him an adventure.

Remembering what Elena had said about playing dumb, as it were, he forced his expression to remain blank as he said politely, "Good morning."

The blue eyes in the old man's face twinkled back at him merrily. "What do you mean? Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or, perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning. Or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?"

Bilbo made a brief considering look before replying, "All of them at once, I suppose." Keeping any sign of recognition out of his face, he put on a bewildered look and asked, "Can I help you?" Seeing the old man - Gandalf, he reminded himself - look at him a bit disapprovingly, he couldn't help but feel a stir of mischief in his soul at the thought of pulling one over the old wizard.

"That remains to be seen," the wizard replied gravely. "I'm looking for someone to go on an adventure." Bilbo made a show of sputtering on his pipe, getting up to grab his mail in an attempt to hide his merriment from the wizard.

"An adventure?" he spat the word as if it were some nasty thing he would find in the bottom of a puddle. "Now, I don't imagine anyone west of Bree would have much interest in adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things. Make you late for dinner, very unpleasant."

Getting his expression under control, he looked up to see the wizard staring at him speculatively. Nodding at him quickly, he said again, "Good morning!" and quickly began to head up to the house, only to be stopped by an indignant-sounding comment.

"To think that I should live to be 'good-morninged' by Belladonna Took's son, as if I were selling buttons at the door!"

Turning around slowly, he said innocently, "Beg your pardon?"

Grumbling, the old man said, "You've changed, and not entirely for the better, Bilbo Baggins."

Tilting his head to the side confusedly, Bilbo said, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

Eyes narrowing, the wizard said, "Well, you know my name, although you don't remember I belong to it. I'm Gandalf! And Gandalf means... me."

Opening his eyes wide in shock and hiding a spurt of merriment, Bilbo said, "Gandalf... not Gandalf, the wandering wizard, who made such excellent fireworks! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve. Ha, ha! Well. Hmm." He eyed the wizard, hoping his mischief wasn't about to show. "I had no idea you were still in business."

Now he saw the wizard react. Looked quite a bit grumpy, too. He'd have to try and describe his face to Elena later, she'd want to draw it for later memories. Drawing his bushy eyebrows together, Gandalf stood a bit taller.

"And where else should I be?" he asked in a stern voice. Bilbo made a noncommittal humming noise and merely huffed a bit on his pipe, trying not to let anything show on his face, even as the wizard made gave him an unsettling look. "Well, I'm pleased to find you remember something about me, even if it's only my fireworks. Well that's decided. It will be very good for you, and most amusing for me. I shall inform the others."

This time Bilbo's eyes widened of their own accord. The twins had warned him that the adventure would most likely begin shortly after the wizard showed up - probably on the same day. He would need to stock up on food.

Forcing himself to focus on the wizard, he sputtered out, "Inform the who? What? No. No. No! Wait. We do not want any adventures here, thank you. Not today. I suggest you try over the Hill or across the Water. Maybe in Bree. Good morning."

Shaking his pipe at the wizard, he hurried up the path and into his home, shutting the door soundly - though not slammed, a Baggins never slams a door - behind him. He hadn't lied - he did not want any adventures today, thank you very much. He needed time to prepare food for his guests.

Letting out a breath of air, he relaxed against the door, only to stand up straight again a moment later as a strange sort of hissing noise reached his ears. Looking out the window curiously, he jumped back a moment later in fright as the face of the wizard suddenly loomed into view.

Carefully sliding over the wall and looking out another one of his windows, he saw the wizard hurrying away. Feeling a strange sort of tension in his body, he looked down at the stack of mail in his hands and began to chuckle. Right on top of the stack, staring at him, was a small sheet of paper he had managed to slip from the wizard's pocket when he was gathering his mail.

He had known it was rather foolish, trying to pickpocket a wizard, but he wanted to test his abilities, and, to be completely honest, he had been rather curious when he saw the tip of the sheet sticking out of the wizard's pocket. He supposed it might possibly inconvenience the wizard if he had needed it before he showed up at his house again, but the Took in him couldn't find it in him to feel guilty.

Given what had just happened, the story that the girls had told him had just been completely verified, and he knew that from what he had been told, Gandalf rather meant to inconvenience him - and in a rather humiliating way, too. His father would be rolling in his grave, but his mother would most likely be dancing - and laughing at the wizard, too.

He shook his head, brushing away such fanciful thoughts, looking down at the paper in his hands. He was rather disappointed to see it was just a list of names at first, before he realized what it was. The names on the list could only mean one thing.  
 _  
Thorin Son of Thrain_

 _Fíli Son of Dis_

 _Kíli Son of Dis_

 _Balin Son of Fundin_

 _Dwalin Son of Fundin_

 _Óin Son of Gróin_

 _Glóin Son of Gróin_

 _Bífur Son of Haldur_

 _Bofur Son of Baldur_

 _Bombur Son of Baldur_

 _Dori Son of Bori_

 _Nori Son of Bori_

 _Ori Son of Bori_

At the bottom was his name and the date. He stared at the list for a moment longer, shaking his head as he read. The names were neither Hobbit nor Elvish, following more the style of Men and Dwarves. But considering that most Men did not have those types of names either, it could only be the dwarves the girls had told him about.

He blinked for a moment as his thoughts began to settle. He, Bilbo Baggins, head of the Baggins clan and Master of Bag End, was about to go on an adventure with a whole lot of dwarves and a wizard with a disgraceful reputation of causing trouble.

He paused as another thought hit him. If these dwarves were anything like Celia and Elena, he was going to need to get some more food. Putting down his mail, he hurried to grab his coat and head to the market to get some more food for his future guests.

xXx

Several hours later, the shopping was done, most of the food was finished cooking, and he was just sitting down to what he felt was a well deserved dinner after a long day preparing for guests when the doorbell rang.

Blinking in surprise, he carefully set his plate off to the side and hurried to the door, making sure that his waistcoat was on properly. Imagine if he had been in his robe! He shuddered to think what Lobelia would have to say about such a thing. Opening the door he was _mostly_ unsurprised to see a large dwarf standing there menacingly, two axes on his back and a thick beard as if to make up for the lack of hair on top of his head.

"Dwalin, at your service," the dwarf grunted, giving a brief bow.

Making sure to make eye contact, Bilbo bowed in return. "Bilbo Baggins, at yours." Standing back up, he thought he saw a flash of approval in the warrior's eyes before it disappeared and he shifted forward slightly. Forestalling any action the dwarf might have taken, Bilbo quickly stood aside and said, "Please, come in. I assume you are a part of Gandalf's party for tonight?"

Nodding, Dwalin strode into the home, dropping a pack on the floor and thrusting the rest at Bilbo. "Is it down here?"

Raising an eyebrow at the dwarf, Bilbo said mildly, "Give me a moment to put these weapons away, and I'll show you where the food is - I presume that's what you're looking for?" Barely waiting for the dwarf's grunt of affirmation, he hurried into his spare room to place the weapons carefully on the bed, knowing that for dwarves, giving your weapons to someone was a sign of trust - or in this case, a test, to see how he would respond.

Coming back into the main room where Dwalin was still standing, albeit impatiently, he said innocently, "Might I ask, Master Dwalin, just how many of you I am to expect? You see, Gandalf didn't tell me who was coming, or how many I should prepare for. Or anything, really," he added almost as an afterthought.

Dwalin stopped abruptly, staring at the hobbit. "You mean to tell me that you have no idea what's going on tonight?"

Bilbo shrugged, gesturing for the dwarf to follow him. After a moment's hesitation, he did. "I have some idea, I suppose. I mean, when Gandalf came by this morning after more than twenty years absence, I knew that he must be up to something - something that involved me, considering that he asked me some nonsense about an adventure."

"Hold on," Dwalin broke in roughly. "The wizard told us that you'd known we were coming - and why - three weeks ago, at least. Are you saying he hasn't been here for twenty years before this morn?"

Tilting his head to the side thoughtfully, Bilbo nodded for a moment. "That seems about right. Oh!" He straightened as a thought hit him, pulling a sheet of paper out of his pocket. "I slipped this from Gandalf's pocket before he left. It had a list of names on it, along with my name and the date. I assumed they belonged to some sort of group of travelers he would plan on bringing here, and, knowing Gandalf's reputation, thought it best to prepare, just in case. If I'm not mistaken, your name might be on here. Is this the party you're with?"

Taking the sheet from Bilbo, Dwalin looked it over quickly, anger growing on his face as he read. "Aye, it is. It would seem that the wizard has attempted to play the both of us for fools. It appears that I must be begging your pardon for my earlier presumptuous actions, Mister Baggins." So saying, he bowed again before the now startled hobbit.

"Oh, there's no need for that," Bilbo said hastily. "The fault, if any, lies at Gandalf's feet, not yours or mine. Now, please, stand up. I can get you some supper, it's no trouble." Ignoring Dwalin's protests, he hurried into the pantry and gathered a plate full of food for the dwarf.

"Now, it doesn't matter if Gandalf told me you were coming or not, a Baggins never lets a guest go hungry, so eat up." Swallowing his protests at the sight of the delicious looking food, Dwalin sat down at the table where Bilbo showed him, and began to eat.

Dwarf or not, Bilbo couldn't help but smile at the way he dug in to his food, though he did feel a small niggle of concern in the back of his mind that couldn't help but ask when he had eaten last, that he would dig in with such eagerness. Opening his mouth to ask, he was later grateful when he realized that the sudden ringing of the doorbell had saved him from asking such a rude question.

Promising to be right back, and ignoring the way that Dwalin's eyes followed him as he left, he hurried to the front door and opened it in time to see an older dwarf, with his white beard split in two parts, smiling at him.

"Balin, at your service," he said with a bow.

"Bilbo Baggins, at yours," Bilbo said, returning the bow.

"Am I late?" Balin asked with concern.

Bilbo furrowed his brow. "Late for what? I'm assuming you're a part of Gandalf's party too, then?"

Balin nodded. "That I am, laddie."

"Ah, well, right this way," Bilbo said, ushering Balin in front of him with a hand.

Dwalin stood up once they reached the dining room, greeting his brother with a resounding head smack that made Bilbo wince. "By my beard, brother, you've gotten shorter."

Balin laughed. "Wider, not shorter. And smart enough for the both of us."

Dwalin gave his brother a smirk that showed exactly what he thought of that, before turning serious. "Has the halfling told you what the wizard's done now?"

Balin frowned. "No. Is there something wrong?"

Dwalin nodded. "Aye. He's played us all for fools. He told us the halfling knew we were coming three weeks ago, but Mister Baggins here says aside from this very morn, he's not seen Gandalf for nigh twenty years."

Balin straightened, turning to look at Bilbo. "Is this true, Laddie?"

Bilbo nodded. "More or less. But it's no true bother, really. I'm just glad that I managed to work it out from this list and his visit," he said, handing over the sheet. "Otherwise I might not have been prepared for all of you, and that would be a disgrace for any well-raised hobbit." He shook his head. "I just wish I knew what Gandalf was thinking when he planned all this out."

Balin raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'll be having words with him, you can be sure of that much. I apologize for the way we're dropping in on you, all out of the blue. And I must warn you - there'll be thirteen of us, altogether, so more'll be coming any minute."

And just at that moment, the door rang. Balin nodded at him. "I'm sure that'll be the boys. Why don't you bring them on down here, if you don't mind, and then we'll figure this out."

Bilbo nodded. "I would appreciate that." And really, he would. Because while the girls had given him the gist of what would be happening, and who would be coming, he still had a lot of questions, and more were coming with each new arrival. Shaking his head, he pulled open the door to see two young dwarves around Celia and Elena's age standing there, alike as night and day, but wearing identical smiles on their faces.

"Fíli," the blond one said.

"And Kíli," the brunet chimed in,

"At your service," they finished together with a bow.

"You must be Mister Boggins," the brunet said with a grin.

Bilbo raised his eyebrows. He could see it. It would be like Elena and Celia all over again, only worse. "Valar help me," he muttered softly. Raising his voice, he said to them, "Bilbo Baggins, at yours." Bowing, he stood up again and said, "Master Balin has requested that I take you to the dining room, as there is some unexpected news to be explained."

Nodding, the two stepped into the house like they owned the place. Fíli removed about a dozen or so weapons and dropped them into Bilbo's arms. "Careful with these, I just had them sharpened."

"It's nice, this place," Kíli said, looking around. "Did you do it yourself?"

Bilbo sighed, hurriedly placing the swords on the bed in the spare room. "No, my father built it for my mother when he was courting her. And kindly wipe your feet on the mat _outside_ the door, Master Kíli, where the mud belongs," he finished, coming out to see Kíli wiping his feet on his mother's glory box, of all things. Honestly. Were these dwarves not raised with any manners? Kíli flushed, apologizing, as he and his brother hurriedly scraped their boots on the mat by the door, looking surprised at the amount of mud that came off.

Once they were finished, Bilbo beckoned them down to the dining room. "I'll grab some plates for you," he told them as they greeted Dwalin eagerly. They both nodded excitedly at the possibility of food, making him hold back a chuckle as he headed into the pantry. They may look like warriors, but they acted like overeager puppies, especially the brunet.

Coming out, two plates loaded with food, he saw the two newest arrivals standing there with slightly ashamed looks on their faces.

"Did you really not know we were coming?" Kíli blurted out.

Fíli shook his head. "What my brother means to say is that we apologize for any inconvenience that we may have caused you."

Bilbo shook his head. "I was prepared enough for your coming to uphold my honor as a Baggins, and that's enough for me. And if the way you've both been eyeing this food is any indication, you're both in need of a good meal - something no decent hobbit would ever think to deny their guests. So why don't you eat, and we'll figure this out when Gandalf gets here. If anyone has some explaining to do, it's him."

The boys needed no more argument, hastily accepting the plates from Bilbo and digging in with a gusto that would make any hobbit proud. They were halfway through their second mug of ale when the doorbell chimed again, making everyone look up.

"I'll get that," Bilbo said quietly. "Maybe Gandalf will be there this time, and we can get some answers."

There was a growl of agreement from Dwalin. "Like why he was playing us for fools."

Bilbo hurried off to answer the door as it rang again, barely hearing Balin's warning to his brother that the wizard would be necessary later in their journey. Pulling the door open quickly, he only just got out of the way in time as a pile of dwarves fall onto the floor in his entryway. Staring at the now grumbling group, he glanced up to see Gandalf ducking his head through the doorway, a smirk on his aged face.

Deciding to ignore him for now, Bilbo quickly extended a hand to help the dwarves up, although he needed the help of a hatted dwarf to pull up an extremely rotund dwarf with a red beard braided into a large loop onto his feet again, who thanked Bilbo for his help before introducing himself as Bombur, son of Baldur, and the hatted dwarf as his brother, Bofur.

By this time the rest of the group was on their feet again, and bowed as they introduced themselves to Bilbo: Bífur, Bombur and Bofur's cousin; Óin and Glóin sons of Gróin; and Dori, Nori, and Ori, sons of Bori. Bilbo instantly recognized Nori from Elena's drawing as someone to watch his valuables around, and Bífur from the axe in his head, although he made sure that he didn't stare at it at all, instead bowing and introducing himself in turn.

Clearing his throat to grab the attention of the milling dwarves, he said loudly, "If I could have your attention, please?" Flushing, as they all instantly turned to him, he continued. "If you could wipe the mud off your feet outside before continuing, and wouldn't mind placing your extra weapons off to the side, I can take you down to the dining room, where there will be food for all of you."

Hearing this, a few of the dwarves let out a cheer before hurrying to do as he had asked. Watching the dwarves hurry about, taking off their weapons - some of them removing quite a few, although, as with Fíli, Bilbo was quite sure there were more left uncovered - was Gandalf, who turned to Bilbo with a surprised look on his face.

"You seem to be taking this quite well, Mister Baggins," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Bilbo tilted his head to the side innocently. "And why shouldn't I be?" he asked. "I was prepared for their coming, which is quite the good thing, as otherwise I would be shamed among hobbits for my failures as a host." He eyed the wizard meaningfully.

Bofur, standing in the background, raised his own eyebrow at that, as well as Gandalf's sudden need to clear his throat and mumble a bit, but said nothing. Seeing they were all ready and waiting on him, Bilbo flushed again and said, "Thank you. Now if you wouldn't mind following me, the food is this way."

"Say no more, lad," Bofur said with a grin. "We'll follow you like a shadow."

xXx

Bilbo was in the kitchen finishing up some tea for Dori, when he heard a sudden uproar from the dining room. Fearing the worst, he hurried out, teapot in hand, only to find all of the dwarves standing up suddenly at his appearance, and Gandalf nowhere to be found.

Bofur stepped forward. "Is it true, Mister Baggins, what Balin said? That you had no idea we were coming?"

Bilbo stuttered a bit. "Well, now, I wouldn't exactly say that that's entirely true, I did have reasonable proof that I would be having a large party over for supper..." Seeing the unamused faces of the dwarves he weakly admitted, "But yes. The last time I saw Gandalf aside from this morning was shortly after the Fell Winter twenty years ago."

This brought about a reaction. Scowls and dark mutterings began to appear among the dwarves. Seeing this, Bilbo said hastily, "But it's quite all right, really. I had time to prepare for you, and if I'm not mistaken, there's still one more of your party missing. Perhaps it would be better if we ate now, and saved our arguments and explanations until he appears?"

The dwarves discussed this for a minute before Balin said, "Aye, it would be for the best to take Master Baggins' advice. Who knows how long it'll be before Thorin gets here?" This seemed to break the tension that had fallen over the room, and the dwarves gathered around the table, filling their plates and mugs.

There was still a bit of muted tension though, and Bilbo, remembering something that Elena had told him once as a way to break any tension, waited for an opportunity. It didn't take long, seeing the way a few of them were cheerfully clinking their silverware together. Normally, he might have been a bit concerned, but... seeing the way the dwarves had dug into the food - as if several of them had not eaten for a very long time - and the way they laughed and enjoyed themselves... he couldn't bring himself to stop them.

Catching Bofur's eye, he said with an amused tone, "Oh, no, don't do that - you'll blunt them."

Bofur looked a bit worried at first, but then, catching the glint in his eye, said with a laugh in his voice, "Oh, do you hear that, lads, he said we'll blunt the knives!" This seemed to be the key to breaking the last bit of ice in the room, as Fíli and Kíli looked up, sensing an opportunity. Banging their silverware on the table in unison, Kíli began, with the other dwarves gradually joining in,

 _"Blunt the knives, bend the forks,_

 _Smash the bottles, and burn the corks._

 _Chip the glasses and crack the plates,_

 _That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!_

 _Cut the cloth and tread on the fat,_

 _Leave the bones on the bedroom mat,_

 _Pour the milk on the pantry floor,_

 _Splash the wine on every door!_

 _Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl,_

 _Pound them up with a thumping pole,_

 _When you've finished, if any are whole,_

 _Send them down the hall to roll._

 _That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!"_

As they sang, they began tossing their dishes in the air at each other, making Bilbo remember too late the second part of Elena's remark: _"It's a really good way to break the ice. But don't worry about your dishes!"_

It was all very good for her to say that _then,_ but for poor Bilbo, even though he enjoyed the song, he couldn't help but worry for his dishes, which were being tossed about very carelessly. Weaving his way through the dwarves, he made it into the kitchen just in time to see the dishes, clean and dried, stacked neatly on the table with not a chip or a crack in sight. The sight of his face sent the whole company laughing.

And then a series of heavy knocks at the door made them all fall silent.

"He is here," Gandalf said gravely, appearing out of nowhere, and ignoring the glares sent his way.

Bilbo raised an eyebrow at the sudden solemn atmosphere, which had previously been full of jollity. Pushing down the sudden jolt of nervousness in his stomach, he walked calmly to the door, followed by the rest of the group, and pulled it open.

Standing there was a tall dwarf, black hair faintly streaked with a silver that only served to make him look distinguished rather than old. Pushing his way past Bilbo into Bag End, he said haughtily, "Gandalf. I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. I wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for that mark upon the door."

Ignoring the dwarf's rudeness, Bilbo couldn't help but feel a small amount of surprise at the fact. This dwarf - who was supposed to be their leader - had gotten lost in the Shire. _Twice_. Pushing past that - as well as his worry over this dwarf leading them to wherever it was they were supposed to go, he said instead, "Mark? There's no mark on that door. I had it painted a week ago!"

"There is a mark on that door," Gandalf interceded. "I put it there myself. Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of this company, Thorin Oakenshield."

Thorin turned to the hobbit, eyeing him up and down. "So, this is the hobbit. Tell me, Mister Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

Bilbo raised an eyebrow at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Axe or sword. What's your choice?"

Bilbo bit down a surge of dislike. "Well I have some skill at conkers, if you must know, but I fail to see why that's relevant."

Thorin smirked. "I thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar," he said, earning a few laughs from the company, though they were small, and short-lived.

That did it. "And you act more like a stable boy than a king," he retorted.

Thorin turned back to him immediately, blue eyes glaring at him. "What did you say?" he demanded.

Bilbo raised an eyebrow at him again. "What I said was that you are acting more like a stable boy than a king," he repeated snarkily. Seeing the confused look on Gandalf's face, he rolled his eyes. "Yes, Gandalf, I am aware that he is a king. Not everyone in the Shire is as unaware of the outside world as you seem to think. It's really not that hard to figure out. A dwarf named Thorin Oakenshield? Surely it _couldn't_ be _the_ Thorin, Son of Thrain, Son of Thror, king under the mountain of Erebor." Sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

Turning to Thorin, he said, "And I said what I did because you came into my house, uninvited, and then proceeded to insult me without even deigning to give me the common courtesy the rest of your companions gave me. I have welcomed you into my home, with no knowledge of why you are here, and you threw my kindness into my face."

The room was silent for a minute before Thorin said begrudgingly, "You are right, Mister Baggins. I... apologize for my rudeness," and bowed, though perhaps not as deep as the other Company members had.

Bilbo smiled. "I accept your apology. Now please, I made sure to save some food, and I'm sure you're hungry after your journey."

Thorin nodded, but hesitated before following him. "You said you had no knowledge of my coming?"

Bilbo shrugged. "Gandalf never told me you were coming, but we can discuss that after you eat."

After a moment's pause, Thorin gave Gandalf a displeased glower. "That would be acceptable. It would appear that you have not been entirely honest with me, Gandalf."

Bilbo gestured with his hand. "If we are done here, I can show you the way to the dining room." Thorin nodded, and started to follow Bilbo again, only to stop and place a hand on his sword as a loud clattering noise came from the kitchen. The Company all placed their hands on one of their weapons, but Bilbo only sighed and placed a hand on the bridge of his nose.

"Cel? El? Will you come out here please?" he called tiredly. Really, he didn't deserve all this after such a long day.

After a minute, two hooded figures came slowly into the entryway, which only made the dwarves tense up even more when they saw the weapons the two figures held, although the two seemed just as surprised as the rest of the group.

"Bilbo?" Gandalf asked after a moment. "Do you know these hobbits?"

Bilbo sighed again. "Yes. Unfortunately for me, I do."

One of the figures, with short, dark brown hair peeking out from their hood, laughed and said, "Now that's not very nice, Bilbo."

When the other hooded figure pushed back their hood, the dwarves were startled to see a girl, with long black hair and green eyes staring mischievously back at them.

"I do believe they weren't expecting us, Elena," she said with a grin. "I suppose you're guests of Uncle Bilbo?" she asked with a grin, tilting her head to the side.

The rest of the dwarves continued to stare, until Kíli finally broke the silence.

"But, but you're a girl!"

* * *

A/N: My prayers go out to everyone who lost someone on that horrific day 16 yrs ago. May we never forget.

And the dwarves are finally here! Next chapter will be filled with lots of explanations...

Special thanks to everyone who favorited, and followed, and shout-out to MissCallaLilly, Naomi Anne Quigley, thewolf74, and E for reviewing! They were all so nice to read. :)

To answer a few questions... no, the dwarves were not early, at least, not in this timeline... and as for relationships...yes... I know exactly what I have in mind for them. When, however, they will happen is a secret... Shhh! Spoilers!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)

General Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit or LOTR, it all belongs to the JRR Tolkien estate.


	8. Chapter 8 - Revelations

~~Elena~~

In the silence that followed Kíli's remark, Elena could see Thorin's instant deadpan expression as he raised an eyebrow at his nephew - and she allowed herself a moment to fangirl at seeing him in the flesh. Pulling down her own hood, she shook her short brown hair free with a laugh.

"Looks like they're onto us, Cel!"

Shaking off her own surprise, Celia replied, "Looks like! Guess there's nothing left to do but introduce ourselves."

Grinning, Elena said, "Elena."

Celia joined in, "And Celia,"

"At your service," they finished together with a bow, making Bilbo roll his eyes at their theatrics.

"Gandalf," Thorin growled after a moment of stunned silence. "What is this?"

"I'm afraid that I'm not too sure myself, at the moment, Thorin," Gandalf said. "Perhaps Bilbo could explain, as he appears to know these two young ladies?"

Bilbo shook his head at the girls. "I'm afraid I do know these two young reprobates," he said with a sigh. "I found them lost and alone in the woods nearby about a year and a half ago. After getting them patched up, I sent word to Ered Luin, to try and contact their kin, but we'd pretty much abandoned hope for a response from there until you lot showed up," he finished, ignoring the confused frowns his explanation caused.

After a moment, Balin stepped forward hesitantly. "If I may, why would you need to send word to Ered Luin? The two lasses are hobbits, are they not?"

Elena snorted, holding up her booted foot. "Do we _look_ like hobbits to you?" she demanded.

Balin's eyes widened. "Dwarrowdams in the Shire?" he breathed.

"Say what?" Celia asked, furrowing her brow.

"Dwarrowdam is the dwarven term for a female dwarf," Gandalf said, raising his eyebrows. "But surely you would already be aware of that?"

Celia shrugged. "It's a bit of a long story."

"Then perhaps you may tell us over dinner, as a few of our party have not eaten yet," Gandalf suggested. "I, for one, would be interested to hear how two young dwarrowdams became lost in the Shire, far from any of their kin."

"And I as well," Thorin added, eyeing the girls speculatively.

Bilbo crossed his arms. "Well, I would like to know what you two are doing home so late. Your shift should have ended this morning!"

"Shift?" Balin inquired as they walked to the dining room.

"Oh, Celia and I help sometimes with the Bounders," Elena said. Seeing Balin frown, she continued. "Bounders are sort of like the Shire's version of guards. Now, obviously, we have the Rangers patrolling the borders of the Shire, and they help out with some of the bigger problems, but for the most part, the Bounders are the ones who keep the peace, and keep an eye on the borders of the Shire.

"That's partially why we're late," she added as an aside to Bilbo. "Folco brought news of a large, armed party of men near the borders of the Shire early this morning, and we had to check it out. Unfortunately, he somehow completely got the directions wrong, and we spent half an hour traveling in the wrong direction before he figured it out. Then we had to figure out what the men wanted, while most of the group hung back and kept watch in case of trouble."

"What did they want?" Bilbo asked, pouring some soup into bowls for Thorin, Elena, and Celia.

Elena snorted. "They claimed they were 'lost'. Ha! This close to the Shire? Nah, they had something else in mind, we just didn't know what. So we had a couple Bounders trail them while we went off to tell the Rangers to keep an eye on them, just in case. The rest went off to warn the rest of the Bounders."

Bilbo nodded. "I suppose that's a decent excuse. Much better than some of the other ones you've given in the past."

"If we are finished here," Gandalf interjected, "I believe that I am most interested in finding out why I can sense a strange magic on these two girls."

Celia froze, almost dropping her bowl of soup. "There - there's _magic_ on us?" Glancing over at Elena, she saw that she, too, looked undeniably startled.

"You did not know?" Gandalf asked, raising his eyebrows almost to his hairline. Elena shook her head mutely.

"Gandalf, what are you talking about? What magic do you sense on them? Is it some sort of foul trap laid by an enemy?" Thorin demanded, laying a hand on his sword, still in its sheath by his side. Celia looked horrified at the accusation, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Gandalf shook his head.

"I can sense neither good nor foul magic at play here, Thorin Oakenshield," he said at last. "Only that it is best described as... neutral. And... it almost appears to have been used twice, once a great deal of time ago, for it is much faded, and another, more recently applied."

Elena looked at her sister in realization. "When we left and returned here, it has to be!" she exclaimed.

Celia's eyes widened as she thought it over. "Of course! The portal, or whatever it was."

Gandalf instantly latched onto her words. "Portal? What exactly do you mean by that, my dear?" he asked, his voice neutral, but his eyes glittering with something akin to excitement and curiosity.

Celia looked at Elena, who shrugged. "Might as well tell them, maybe Gandalf can help us figure it out. He is a wizard, after all."

Celia shrugged back at her. "Might as well then. Basically, from what we can figure out, Elena and I were born here, but a few years after that, we somehow ended up in another world. Literally."

"As in, we were found unconscious in a land filled with only humans, where no dwarf, elf , or hobbit had ever existed," Elena finished.

Bilbo, who had heard this story before, kept his face calm. The rest of the dwarves, however, looked shocked and disbelieving.

"But then what'd they think of you?" Bofur called out. "Surely you'd have looked a mite strange to them, having never seen a dwarf and all."

Elena gave him a half smile. "That's the thing. When we got there, we looked like ordinary humans, if a tad on the short side. When we woke up, we said that we were about twelve years of age. Since we obviously didn't look that age in human years, the people who took care of us assumed that we were about three to four years old."

"By my beard!" Glóin exclaimed. "You were only twelve years old? But that means that you were little more than babes!"

"Hold on," Kíli interjected. "You said you were both twelve years old? How did that happen? Aren't you sisters?"

Celia raised her eyebrows and nodded slowly. "Twins, actually."

A few of the dwarves gasped at that, and even Thorin raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Twins," Glóin breathed. "And both girls at that. Your parents must truly have been blessed by Mahal!"

Saving that remark to ask about later, Celia continued with the story. "While we were there, we seemed to age like the humans do, and we lived there for about... oh, fifteen years or so. Then, about a year and a half ago for us, while we were out camping, we felt a strange tugging sensation that we couldn't escape. Something knocked us out at that point, and we were eventually found by Bilbo sometime later in the Shire. He took us in while we tried to figure things out, and sent word to Ered Luin a week or two later. We never got a response, so we assumed that they either knew nothing, or that our message never reached them."

Thorin furrowed his brows. "I assure you, had a message about two young dwarrowdams being lost in the Shire reached us, we _would_ have responded, whether we knew who you were or not. Dwarrowdams are too precious to us to be just left to fend for themselves in the wild." He paused. "It seems that I must add my thanks to my apologies, Mister Baggins, for taking care of my kin when I could not," he said, bowing to him.

Startled, Bilbo said hastily, "Oh, well, it was the decent thing to do. I'm sure that many people would have done the same."

Balin shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid that that statement is less true than it should be, Mister Baggins. Most would have done no more than making sure they were all right, if that."

Here, Gandalf, who had been deep in thought for the past few minutes, broke into the conversation. "I have always known Bilbo to be exceptionable among hobbits, and the knowledge that he took in two dwarrowdams when I am sure that he faced resistance from some of the more... stubborn hobbits, who do not like outsiders, merely gives strength to my belief."

He eyed the two girls with interest. "But as for this other matter, I believe that the two young ladies before us are what are known among scholars as _'randir'._ The pilgrim. Those who have visited, or come from, another world by means of a gate; a barrier between worlds, so to speak, in times of great need."

Most of the dwarves still looked blank, but Thorin, Balin and Ori had growing looks of comprehension.

Gandalf continued. "But the last known randir visited over two millennia ago, when the Greenwood was in great peril. It was thought that the gates had been shut for good long ago." He eyed the girls with interest. "It would appear that the Valar have one more plan in the making. And if there are two of you, and both in the form of dwarves, it would seem that the two of you have something to do of great importance to this company."

Celia and Elena exchanged knowing glances. Catching the glance, the glint in Gandalf's eyes sharpened. Seeing the look, as well as Gandalf's interest, Thorin's own eyes narrowed. But following Gandalf's lead, he remained silent on the matter, planning to discuss it with the wizard alone at a later date.

"We can discuss that later," the dwarf king said aloud. "Both Gandalf and Master Baggins have verified your tale, as much as they could, and I am inclined to believe them. However," he said, dark eyes pinning the girls to their spots. " I would like to know if you have any knowledge of who your family might be."

Biting her lip, Elena looked quickly at Celia before lifting her hand to her neck and pulling out her necklace. "Celia and I don't remember who our parents were, or what they looked like. The closest thing we have to our history is these necklaces, which we've had for as long as we can remember. We've never been able to take them off," she said.

Thorin's eyes focused on the necklace with interest. "I imagine not, if that is what I believe it to be. If I may?" he asked, gesturing to the necklace. When Elena nodded, he took it in his hand, carefully examining it, but staying as far back as he could to avoid crowding her.

"This locket is of dwarven make," he said at last. "Designed by an excellent silversmith, and made of mithril."

"Mithril?" Celia gasped, pulling out her own necklace and studying it.

"Yes," Thorin answered, still holding Elena's necklace. "That alone means that your parents must have been well off, for even a small amount of mithril such as this is incredibly precious for its rarity and strength." He studied Celia for a moment. "You knew of mithril," he said, waiting until she nodded to continue. "But you never realized that your locket was made of it. Did your world not have it?"

Celia shook her head, wide eyed. "No, although it was mentioned in a few... specific... stories," she finished weakly, glancing at Elena.

"Why do you keep calling them lockets?" Elena asked Thorin hastily, trying to get his attention away from Celia and the large holes in their story. The look in his eyes told her that he knew exactly what he was trying to do - probably from years of helping to raise his nephews - but went along with it.

"Because they are," he told her plainly. "Did you never suspect that?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

Elena flushed. "We knew that they were awfully thick to just be a pendant, but there was no way to open them, or even take them off, so after a while we assumed that they were just necklaces."

Thorin nodded thoughtfully, still gazing at the locket held carefully in his hand. "It would have been almost impossible for you to open them in your world, with no one there to help or guide you. They are designed to only open with a certain kind of pressure," he said, raising his eyes to Elena. "If you so wish, I am able to open them for you. Or would you would rather wait until you are alone?" he asked, his voice as steady as ever, but a kind look in his eyes.

Elena's eyes widened. Glancing at Celia, who nodded after a moment, she turned back to Thorin, who was waiting patiently. "Might as well do it now, yeah? See what's in there?" She bit her lip nervously.

Thorin nodded once before running his fingers over the locket in a quick series of seemingly random motions, before there was a sudden quiet 'click' as the lid of the locket popped open slightly. Giving the locket back to Elena, Thorin stepped back as she carefully pulled the lid open.

Glancing at the left side of the locket, where a few words were engraved, her eyes widened. In a slightly awed voice, she read aloud, " _Elantar, firstborn daughter of Thokar, Son of Lokar, and Samara, Daughter of Elin, born Third Age 2866. Light and joy of our lives._ "

She read the brief engraving again to herself before looking at the other side. A black and white drawing of a dwarf with a thick, black head of hair and beard, sat holding a small baby girl, smiling at the artist. At the bottom of the locket lay a small purple bead, with tiny runes etched on it in silver. She carefully picked it up and held it out to Thorin in the palm of her hand.

"What's this?" she asked curiously.

Coming over once more, he gently picked it up, studying the runes engraved on it. "All dwarrow have beads in their hair," he said at last. "They denote their family, their status, and their occupations. The runes here declare you to be the heir and firstborn child to the family of Thokar."

His brow furrowed. "I regret that there was no dwarrow of that name among the families of Ered Luin, or else we may have been able to reunite you with your family in a short amount of time." Turning to Balin, he asked, "Balin, are you familiar with the name of Thokar? Or what settlement he might be from?"

Balin thought for a moment before shaking his head regretfully. "But the name Lokar sounds familiar." He snapped his fingers suddenly. "The Lost Caravan! Thokar, Son of Lokar, and his family were one of the families supposed to be on the caravan coming to Ered Luin, before it was found, the carts and wagons nearly completely destroyed, and more than half of those who were traveling with it lying dead on the ground beside them. All the others were missing, never to be found again. It was considered one of the largest tragedies since we tried to retake Moria, as a large number of the caravan was made up of women and children."

Thorin nodded. "Aye, I remember. We sent out scouts when it was more than a month overdue, only to find we were too late." He turned to Elena and Celia, who had been listening to the exchange with some confusion. "The Lost Caravan was filled with dwarrow from Erebor, who had temporarily settled in places such as the Iron Hills, with Dáin, my cousin, or other settlements, before deciding to reunite with the largest group of settlers from Erebor, ruled by myself, in Ered Luin, a settlement in the Blue Mountains a small distance from here." He paused again.

"Thokar was not yet of age when Erebor fell, but Lokar, his father, was a minor lord in Erebor, who fled to the Iron Hills with all that remained of his family when the dragon attacked." He lowered his eyes, thinking, before raising them back up to the girls. "If your parents met the same fate as the rest of the caravan, then you would be the heirs to Lokar's wealth and position, should Erebor be reclaimed."

Celia's eyes widened. Turning to Elena, she said softly. "I never thought we'd actually find out who our parents might be. And then - occupying the position of nobility! It's crazy! No one back home would ever believe us!" The light in her eyes dimmed slightly as she thought of home. Shaking off the sad thoughts, she asked Thorin quietly, "Do you think you could open my locket as well, please?"

Nodding, he carefully took the locket and opened it, making sure to do so slow enough that she could watch and learn how to open it as well. Pulling it open, Celia quickly looked over the contents before showing it to her sister. There was a black and white picture of a dwarrowdam, looking quite in love with the small baby girl she was holding, smiling down at her and appearing to quite ignore the artist. On the other side, like Elena's, was an engraving:

 _"Celestiel, second-born Daughter of Thokar, Son of Lokar, and Samara, Daughter of Elin. Born Third Age 2866. More precious than mithril."_

And there, rolling around at the bottom of the locket as she moved it, was a small blue bead, runes etched on it with silver. Holding out to Thorin, she said, "The runes mean the same thing as my sister's, right?"

Carefully looking it over, Thorin corrected her. "Almost. These runes declare you to be the second-born daughter of the family of Lokar." Handing the bead back to Celia, he continued. "The beads that were in your lockets are the family beads, given to a child on their twentieth birthday, when they are old enough to understand what they are being given. The other beads, such as status and occupation, come when the child is full grown."

He frowned. "If, as you say, you were twelve when you... left this world, then the beads would have still been placed in the locket for safekeeping by your parents until you came of an age to be given them."

"Does every child get a locket?" Celia asked curiously.

Thorin shook his head. "No. Every child is given a bead, but the locket is given to the dwarrowdams, as a special gift, for the birth of a female is regarded as a great occasion. They are designed to only be opened by those with the specific knowledge how, in order to prevent the lockets, which are usually designed from a precious metal from being stolen and replaced by fakes, and to help protect and identify dwarrowdams."

"But... why can't we take them off?" Elena asked, tugging slightly at her locket. "I mean, I can sort of understand the whole, protected lockets thing, and stuff, but is there a special way to take them off, too?"

Thorin started to look slightly awkward. "Yes, but that is not all there is to it. The lockets are only meant to be taken off by your betrothed on the day of your wedding. As such, it would be highly improper for me to take them off."

Elena nodded, carefully shutting her locket. "I understand. Thank you."

Thorin nodded. "I am glad to be of service. But now, we must decide where you are to go. I understand that you have been staying with Mister Baggins while you waited for word from your kin. However, if Mister Baggins agrees, then he would be traveling with us to Erebor, thus leaving him unable to care for you while he was gone."

Elena tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Why couldn't we come with you?" Seeing Thorin, and a few other of the dwarves, instantly start to object, she held up a hand. "Give me a minute to explain myself, please. I know that you're planning to try and retake Erebor, I heard a few of the others talking," she said, gesturing to a few of the dwarves, who looked a bit sheepish when they caught Thorin's glare.

"Now, I know that there's a dragon there, Bilbo made sure to keep us up on our history, including what was known of dwarven history, such as the fall of Erebor. But as you said, we could hardly stay here by ourselves, and journeying to Ered Luin all on our own would be even more dangerous. At least with a group of thirteen dwarves AND a wizard, we'd have a bit more chance of staying safe. Not to mention that Erebor is apparently our home, too." Thorin regarded her steadily for a moment.

"I understand your desire to see your homeland. It is admirable, and I respect you for it. However, it would be far too dangerous for me to consider letting two young dwarrowdams with no weapons training go on a long journey to face a dragon."

Celia jumped in, playing their trump card. "But we do have weapon training. Elena has her axes, and I'm pretty good at archery myself. And all three of us," she said, indicating Bilbo, "Are fair hands at daggers." Out of the corner of her eye, Elena saw Kíli's ears perk up at the mention of archery.

Thorin considered this for a moment. "If what you say is true, and you do have some capability with defending yourselves, then I would consider it. But you would have to agree to be tested by Dwalin," he said, indicating the bald dwarf, who had appeared much more interested in the long conversation once it was revealed that Elena used axes as a weapon. "And you must swear to obey me," he said sternly, his tone allowing no argument. "I am the leader of this company, and if I tell you to fall back, you must accept that it is for your safety."

Elena and Celia glanced at each other before nodding. "We accept your terms," Elena said.

Thorin looked them both in the eyes, looking for deceit, before nodding, satisfied. "Then I welcome you to my Company. Now, for you, Mister Baggins," he said, turning to the hobbit who had been watching the proceedings with a resigned expression on his face. "If we might have a light?" he asked. Bilbo nodded, carefully lighting a few lamps around the dining room table as all the dwarves sat down.

"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?" Balin asked, switching from curiosity about the girls to business as soon as they sat down.

Thorin nodded, his face expressionless. "Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms." Elena, looking around curiously, saw the faces of the dwarves lighting up.

Dwalin, however, still looked cynical. "What do the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Is Dáin with us?"

Thorin shook his head, his mood darkening. "They will not come. They say this quest is ours, and ours alone."

Celia, watching the faces of the dwarves fall in disappointment, felt a small niggle of annoyance and dislike for the dwarves from the other kingdoms. They had all rejected Thorin's quest to reclaim their homeland, leaving him with twelve other dwarves, a wizard, and a hobbit to take on a dragon. But she was sure they'd be more than happy to reap the rewards if they were successful.

"Bilbo, if we might have a little more light, my dear fellow?" Gandalf said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere and pulling something out of his pocket. Bilbo nodded, bringing a lamp to the table as Gandalf spread a worn map out before Thorin. "Far to the east, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak," he said, as Thorin looked over the map.

Looking over Thorin's shoulder, Bilbo read aloud, "The Lonely Mountain."

Glóin nodded, his fiery red beard brushing the table as he did so. "Aye. Óin has read the portents, and the portents say, it is time."

Next to him, his brother nodded. "Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold: When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end."

"The beast being Smaug, I presume," Bilbo said.

Bofur nodded, a hint of mischief entering his eyes. "Aye, the chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire breather, teeth like razors, claws like meathooks, extremely fond of precious metals -"

Bilbo cut him off, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I'm aware of what a dragon is, thank you."

Elena hid a smile as Ori, obviously feeling a sudden surge of confidence, suddenly stood up and proclaimed, "I'm not afraid! I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the Dwarfish iron right up his hide!"

Then she couldn't stop a snort as, amidst cheers from the dwarves around him, Dori pulled him down, fussing over him like a mother hen. "Sit down," he said, obviously not caring for Ori's desire to go face-to-face with a dragon.

Balin shook his head sadly. "The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest."

This sparked a storm of outrage from the dwarves, except for Óin, who had apparently missed what he said and kept holding his ear trumpet up in the air. "What did he say? Test our fighters?"

Nothing daunted, Fíli said, "We may be few in number, but we're fighters, all of us, to the last dwarf!"

Kíli jumped in. "And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time."

Gandalf sputtered a bit. "Oh, well, now, uh, I- I- I wouldn't say that, I -"

"How many then?" Dori asked, cutting him off.

"Ahem, what?" Gandalf stalled.

"Well, how many dragons have you killed? Go on, give us a number!" Dori said impatiently. Gandalf coughed a bit on his pipe smoke. Celia snickered as the dwarves stood up and began fighting among themselves about just how many dragons Gandalf had or had not killed in his time. Thorin stood up at last, obviously fed up with the shouting.

"S _hazara!_ If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumors have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look east to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor? _Du Bekâr! Du Bekâr!_ "

Caught up in the excitement, Elena and Celia couldn't help but cheer along with the rest of the dwarves until Balin, always the voice of reason, cautioned, "You forget: the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true," Gandalf said, twirling a key in his fingers that had not been there a moment ago.

Thorin's eyes widened as he looked at it. "How came you by this?" he asked Gandalf in awe.

Gandalf smiled. "It was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safekeeping. It is yours now," he said, handing it to Thorin, who took it carefully.

"If there is a key, there must be a door!" Fíli exclaimed.

Elena leaned over to her sister and whispered, "I wonder how long it took him to figure _that_ out!"

Celia snickered quietly as Gandalf pointed to some ruins on the map with his pipe. "These ruins speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls."

"There's another way in!" Kíli called out excitedly. Celia bit her lip, trying to hold her laughter in as she looked over at her sister, who seemed to be in similar straits. Evidently it ran in the family.

"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed," Gandalf pointed out. "The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar." Óin spoke up.

"Hm, and a pretty good one too, I'd imagine," Bilbo said nonchalantly. But Elena, watching him closely, could have sworn she saw him hiding a smirk.

"And are you?" Gloín asked.

Bilbo feigned confusion. "Am I what?"

"He said he's an expert!" Oín cheered. A few of the other dwarves began to celebrate.

"Me? A burglar! I never said any such thing!" Bilbo said indignantly.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Mister Baggins," Balin said reluctantly. "He's hardly burglar material."

"Aye, Dwalin butted in. The wild is no place for gentlefolk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves."

"But fortunately for you," Bilbo broke in, drawing the attention of the dwarves who had begun to angrily mutter amongst themselves again, "I believe I possess at least some of the qualities you deem necessary to be a burglar. In addition to being light on their feet, hobbits can pass unseen by most if we so wish, and," he added, pulling several bags out of his pocket and placing them on the table with a flourish, "I am a bit more skilled at burglary than most of my fellow hobbits."

There was a stunned silence as the dwarves began to realize what the bags were. "If that's not the guardsman's bag, I'll eat my pipe," Nori muttered to Bofur, as they saw Dwalin suddenly patting his pocket.

Bofur snorted before saying, "I think that's your bag up there as well, is it not?" He gestured to a bag with a thin rope tied around it with a wide grin visible on his face.

Nori flushed, quickly grabbing the bag. "If he's got the skill to steal from me, Dwalin, _and_ Glóin, who holds onto his money like a mother to her child, then I say he's got what it takes to come with us."

Looking over the group, Elena could see the grudging respect beginning to form in the eyes of the elders, while a few of the younger dwarves, such as Fíli, Kíli, and Ori stared at him with something approaching awe in their eyes. The contract might not have been signed just yet, but Bilbo was well on his way to becoming an accepted member of the company of Thorin Oakenshield.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as we are finally starting to get a move on with the quest!**

 **Huge thank you to everyone who favorited and followed, and shout-out to Illogical Human, E, and SarannWrapp for reviewing! Also, there are now over a thousand views on this story, after only seven chapters! Thank you all so much! It makes me so happy! :)  
I hope this long-awaited chapter met everyone's expectations. And to answer SarannWrapp's question, I have not completed this story as of yet, but there are several more chapters published on Wattpad, under the same User and Story name.**

 **Dwarvish Translations:**

 **Shazara: Silence!**

 **Du Bekar: To arms! The script I am using comes from file3. guildlaunch 361833/ TheHobbitAUJ-MovieTranscriptWithoutImages .pdf minus the spaces.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or any of its characters, they all belong to the JRR Tolkien estate. Only Celia and Elena are mine.**


	9. Chapter 9 - Showdowns in the Shire

~~Celia~~

Dwalin snorted. "I'll admit that you did well to catch me and the thief off guard," he said, gesturing to Nori, who immediately assumed an air of innocence. "But it'll be a lot harder stealing from a dragon than a dwarf, and you'll still have to survive long enough to get there - something that looks rather difficult for someone with your strength to achieve."

Bilbo sighed, rolling his eyes, but said nothing. Gandalf, on the other hand, grew angry as some of the dwarves began to nod and mutter in agreement. Standing to his full height, he cast darkness over the room, and began to speak in a voice that commanded obedience.

"Enough! If I say that Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is! As he himself has said, hobbits are quick, and light on their feet, and able to pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mister Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this."

Thorin nodded reluctantly. "Very well. We'll do it your way. Give him the contract."

"And we're off!" Bofur cheered as Balin handed Bilbo a long, folded-up parchment.

"It's just the usual summary of out-of pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth," Balin told him.

As Bilbo began unfolding the contract, Celia, seated fairly close to Thorin, heard him lean in to Gandalf and whisper, "I cannot guarantee his safety."

Gandalf nodded. "I understand."

"Nor will I be responsible for his fate."

"Agreed," Gandalf said, albeit this time with a somewhat more sober air.

Resisting the urge to glare at Thorin, Celia directed her gaze back to Bilbo, who appeared to have reached some of the more... interesting parts of the contract.

"Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit, if any. Seems fair. Eh, present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof including but not limited to lacerations... evisceration... incineration?" he read aloud with a concerned look.

Bofur jumped at the chance to help... or hinder. "Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye."

Bilbo raised an eyebrow. "Really? And here I thought he'd just knit me a sweater and send me off home to the Shire again. Really, Gandalf. It would seem that the dwarves aren't the only ones you've deceived. I could have sworn that when you mentioned the dragon, you said it was a small, cuddly one, more like a lapdog than a villain."

"What do you mean, Gandalf deceived us?" Thorin broke in with a glower - although who it was directed to, Celia wasn't sure. Maybe he just liked glowering. "Is this related to your earlier lack of knowledge about my arrival?"

"When I arrived earlier this evening, Mister Baggins made it clear that aside from this morning, the last time he'd seen Gandalf had been almost two decades ago," Balin informed him. "And the only reason he knew any of us were coming, was by picking his pocket and finding a list of all of our names on it."

Thorin turned the full force of his glare on Gandalf, who had choked on his pipe smoke before searching his pockets for said list and coming up empty. "Is this true, Gandalf?" Thorin ground out. "Have you played us all for fools?"

"Now, Thorin," Gandalf said, attempting to look surprised, "I would never do such a thing to you. I will admit to perhaps having neglected to appraise Mister Baggins of our coming, but I was afraid that word of the quest would get out, and gossip in the Shire spreads like wildfire. I must also admit to some apprehensions concerning... Mister Baggins' agreement to accompany us on this quest," he finished awkwardly, fumbling with his pipe.

Bilbo sighed. "What he means is, he thought I'd turn you down flat, being a respectable hobbit of the Shire, particularly in keeping with my status as head of the Baggins family. He thought it'd be harder for me to turn you down after meeting you and hearing about the quest. Although I will say one thing. He was right about the gossip. By noon tomorrow morning, all of Hobbiton and the surrounding areas will be aware of the fact that I hosted thirteen dwarves and a wizard in my home."

Thorin frowned. "I fear I must apologize again for our presumptuous actions at your home, Mister Baggins. It seems that we have greatly inconvenienced you."

Bilbo shook his head. "It would have been nice to know ahead of time, of course, so that I could fully prepare for your coming, but it doesn't make that much of a difference in the end. I'm still coming."

Thorin stopped glaring at Gandalf for a moment and turned to him in shock, as did the rest of the dwarves. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.

Bilbo raised his eyebrows. "I'm coming with you. Although, I'll need a bit of time before we leave, as there are some arrangements that I simply cannot leave without having taken care of first."

Balin nodded slowly, his mind going over the details. "I'm sure we can wait til midday tomorrow, at least. Thorin?" he asked, looking to the leader for confirmation.

Thorin eyed Bilbo a moment before agreeing. "Midday would not delay us too much. But I would like to know what it is you must do so urgently. Our quest is urgent, and its secrecy is more important now than ever."

Bilbo waved one hand in the air, while moving around the table and picking up the leftover dishes from dinner. "I can keep a secret, you needn't worry about that. And it's nothing too lengthy, either. I just have to stop by my grandfather's house and make sure he has my will, and all arrangements for taking care of my tenants while I'm gone."

"Tenants?" Balin asked, furrowing his brow.

"Oh, well, I own some land in Hobbiton and the surrounding areas," Bilbo said unconcernedly. "I have to make sure someone can pick up the rent and keep an eye on them while I'm gone."

Ori's eyes widened. "So then, you're a lord?" he gasped, before blushing and drawing back in on himself.

Bilbo shook his head, wrinkling his nose with distaste. "Now where'd you get an idea like that from? Hobbits don't have royalty. Or lords, or any other nonsense like that. The closest thing we have to a leader is the Thain, Gerontius Took. He keeps an eye out for trouble, and organizes gatherings, and decides if any laws need to be repealed or added, although that part of his job is almost entirely nonexistent, it's so rarely used."

Thorin frowned. "But you do own land and rent it out?" Bilbo nodded. "Is it safe to presume that then you might be more powerful than some of the other hobbits in the Shire?"

Bilbo sighed. "Hobbits value respectability more than physical strength and other characteristics. I might hold a bit more sway than most, as I'm head of the Baggins clan, and a favorite of the Took clan as well, both powerful families in the Shire, but we don't really hold sway with lordship, or anything like that. They don't serve me, any tenants I have only work for me if they so desire."

A concerned look grew steadily stronger on Balin's face. "Meaning no offense now, my lad, but if we were to put it into the terms of Men, might the Thain be likened to a king?"

Celia saw the look on Bilbo's face and bit back a laugh. Leaning over to Elena, she whispered, "He looks like he's about to blow. Almost like he did when we asked him the same question."

"Yes, it might be considered something like a king," Bilbo admitted distastefully. "But _we_ don't consider him to be such."

"And might you be considered a lord then?" Balin pressed further, a look of realization beginning to dawn on some of the other dwarves' faces.

Bilbo rolled his eyes. "I hardly see how it matters, but yes, I suppose I might. Are we done with this series of questions yet? I hardly see how it relates to my being able to go on the quest."

"If I may," Gandalf interjected, ignoring the glares that were thrown his way. "My dear Bilbo, the dwarves value position a great deal, perhaps in the same way hobbits value respectability and tradition. For them to realize that you are essentially a lord in their eyes, changes quite a few things in their opinion, if I am correct."

"Indeed it does, Mister Gandalf," Balin agreed, still looking concerned. "Of course you may have all the time you need, Mister Baggins. But if I might ask, would not one of your status need to inform your... Thain, of your leaving the Shire for up to a year or more?"

Bilbo sighed, knowing that Balin had almost said king. "I'll be seeing him tomorrow, when I drop off my will. I can let him know everything I need to then."

The silence that fell was deafening. Celia could see her sister biting her lip in an attempt to hold back the laughter at the sight of the growing shock and horror on the faces of the dwarves.

"Your grandfather... is the Thain?" Balin finished weakly.

Bilbo nodded, confused. "Yes, my mother was his daughter. Why?" he frowned as realization hit him. "And before you say it, I am most definitely not a prince! There are at least six others who stand to become Thain before me, should anything happen to my grandfather. Now, if we may get back to business?" he finished firmly, staring pointedly at the contract.

Balin shook himself off. "Of course, my apologies. If you'll just sign here, Mister Baggins, Thorin and I can sign as witnesses, and we'll be done with the matter."

Bilbo nodded. "Thank you." Taking the quill that Balin offered him, he dipped it in ink and quickly signed it while the dwarves around them cheered.

Taking the contract, Balin looked it over. "Looks all right to me, Mister Baggins." Once he and Thorin had both signed the contract as witnesses, he shook Bilbo's hand and said, "Welcome, Mister Baggins - and Lady Celia, and Lady Elena, of course," he added with a nod to them, "To the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

xXx

Later that evening, as the dwarves talked among themselves and Bilbo sat talking to Gandalf - no doubt hashing out Gandalf's deception, if the slightly chagrined and yet intrigued look on Gandalf's face was any indication - Celia and Elena decided to heat up some apple cider, as even though it was springtime, the evenings could still get chilly.

"Should we offer any to the others?" Celia whispered to her sister. "I mean, technically, it'd be the polite thing to do..."

Elena thought about it for a minute before shaking her head. "Nah. They'd probably prefer ale to cider anyways. Not sure why. It tastes like poison in a bottle."

"Did someone say poison?" Someone broke into their conversation. Turning around, the girls saw the two youngest dwarves - Fíli and Kíli - standing behind them, mischievous grins on their faces. "If you're looking for someone to poison, it's best to come to the experts - us!" Kíli boasted, puffing out his chest jokingly.

Fíli elbowed his brother in the side. "Normal people usually introduce themselves first, Kee," he hissed, before putting on a bright smile for the girls. "Pardon my brother, he was dropped on his head as a baby. Fíli, at your service," he said with a bow. "And this strange creature beside me is my young and inexperienced brother, Kíli."

Kíli snorted. "I'm only younger than you by five years, Fee, and the only reason I hit my head at all, was because you dropped me when you tried to pick me up on your own!"

Celia couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that sibling relationships were the same no matter what world or race you were from. "I understand your pain, Master Kíli," she said with a grin. "Even though we only found out for certain that I was the younger sibling today, my sister has always felt the need to assert her will over mine. Now that she knows for certain, I feel she will never recover her former, small amount of humility. It has been lost for good, I fear."

Beside her, Elena rolled her eyes. "I only felt the need to assert my will because I clearly had more life experience and wisdom, which I quite often had to use to save you from yourself." She rolled her eyes again. "Younger siblings. Are they as foolish and ungrateful for dwarves as they are for men?" she asked Fíli with an exasperated look, ignoring Celia's protest.

He smiled. "I cannot speak for all dwarves, my lady, but as for me and my brother, I believe it to be most unfortunately true."

Celia huffed out a breath. "I suppose we're just going to ignore the fact that it was your idea to leave the raw fish in the headmaster's desk?" After a moment of innocent silence from Elena, Celia narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I believe you were saying something about being an expert on poisons, Master Kíli? I believe I have just found a victim," she cleared her throat, "I mean, volunteer - no, you know what? I mean victim - for you to prove it to me."

Kíli grinned. "It would be my pleasure, my lady," he said with a grand bow. "I know all the best poisons to leave your victim with an unfortunate rash, or other such calamity on important occasions. And I believe that my brother would be perfectly willing to be a victim as well, he never could turn down a lady in need." Fíli snorted but made no other comment.

"Anyways, back to the original point," Elena said dryly. "My sister and I were going to make apple cider, if you and your brother would be interested, Master Fíli."

Fíli scrunched up his nose a bit. "For me, at least, I would be interested, but only if you agree to call me Fíli. The quest will be long enough as it is without us standing on formality."

"And I, as well," Kíli chimed in. "I have no taste for all the formality that goes with being nephew to Thorin. I leave that to Fíli," he said, grinning at his brother, who only rolled his eyes.

"Yes, they're both aware that I'm the mature one, Kee," he said with a deadpan expression.

Celia and Elena, who had been watching the brief exchange with grins, shared a look that expressed their doubt of this. "I can agree to your terms if you will agree to mine, Fíli," Celia said. "Just call us by our names. It's weird. I'm not used to being called by a title."

Elena nodded, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I agree. Please, just call me Elena."

The brothers thought about it for a minute before nodding. "All right. But you have to explain why we're being rude to Uncle if he gets mad about the fact that we're not calling you by your proper title," Kíli warned.

Elena laughed as she started to pour the cider into a saucepan. "Very well. I agree to your terms. We shall all be disgraceful and rude together, then, shall we?"

Fíli shrugged. "It's worked for Kíli this far, it should work out for the rest of us, too."

"Hey!" his brother complained. "It wasn't my idea to get rid of Lady Umbridge when she kept trying to court Uncle against his will!"

Celia snorted. "So how old are you two, anyways? Because you must be of age, if you're allowed to go on this quest, but you act like some of the fauntlings here in the Shire!"

"First of all, what's a fauntling?" Kíli asked. "And second, I'm actually not quite of age, yet. Fee is, though. He's eighty-two, and dwarrow come of age at eighty years old."

Elena whistled. "Wow. I knew that dwarves aged differently from humans, but that - that's just crazy. I mean, if the locket is right, then we would be about..." She stopped to think.

"Seventy-five years old," Celia finished softly.

Kíli grinned. "Just a few years younger than me, then. I'm seventy-seven."

Elena raised her eyebrows as she stirred the cider. "So then, you'd probably be about nineteen or twenty for a human, then, while Fíli would probably be somewhere around twenty-one."

Fíli nodded. "From what I know of dwarrow-human aging differences, that seems about right. So then you would be probably somewhere around... eighteen human years of age."

Celia frowned, glancing at her sister. "But, back in our old world, we made it to about twenty years old," she objected.

Elena shook her head. "You're forgetting that we never knew our age for certain. Plus, when we came back here, we probably returned to the age that we would be if we had never left. And to answer your earlier question, Kíli, a fauntling is a hobbit child somewhere under the age of twenty. Then they become a tween, until they come of age at thirty-three years old."

She paused. "The cider's done." Grabbing some cups out of a nearby cupboard, she quickly poured the cider evenly into the four glasses and handed them out. "Be careful," she warned. "It's really hot."

"But it's pretty good," Celia conceded.

"Indeed," Fíli agreed. "Thank you, My la - Elena," he finished awkwardly, seeing Elena's raised eyebrow.

"So, I have a question," Celia said, taking a sip out of her cup. "When Master Glóin found out that we were twins, he seemed shocked. And he also said that our mother must have been blessed by Mahal because we were both girls. Why was that so shocking?" she asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

Fíli grew more serious, looking down at the cup in his hand. "Dwarrowdams have always been rare. Twins, even more so - hardly ever seen, although I recall meeting a pair once, at a meeting with Uncle with some envoys from the Iron Hills. They're a bit more common among elves and men, although I'm not sure about hobbits.

"And when Smaug attacked," his voice grew a bit lower, as if afraid to say his name, "we lost even more. For the most part, dwarrowdams tended to stay inside Erebor, for their protection. They could travel, and do business, of course, but we tried to protect them with everything we had. For Erebor, it meant keeping them safe inside the stronghold. No one could break that easily into a mountain, right?" He laughed bitterly.

"So when Smaug came, a lot of the dwarrowdams were killed, because they were farther inside the mountain, and didn't have time to escape. Then, during the Wandering Days, before we settled at Ered Luin, many of the women and children were killed, or died from cold and starvation, or wounds they had gotten while traveling. And all that aside, childbirth is... difficult at the best of times. It's a large part of the reason why we are few in number. So for your mother to have given birth to twins, already a rare event, and then for both to be females, it is a sure sign of blessing from Mahal, the Valar who created us."

Celia nodded. "I understand now. Thank you."

Fíli nodded at her. "I have to admit to some curiosity, though, as to what your world was like. Was it very different from ours?" he asked.

Celia opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off as another voice broke in.

"Fíli, Kíli, your uncle wants you both out in the living room," Dwalin said gruffly, jerking his head towards the door. Seeing the girls, he gave a brief bow of his head as the two young dwarves hurriedly left the room. "Begging your pardon, ladies. I didn't see you there. Dwalin, at your service."

Elena smiled. "Elena and Celia at yours, Master Dwalin," she said, bowing in return. The dwarf nodded in acceptance before hurrying back out of the room.

Raising an eyebrow, Celia gathered up the cups to begin washing them. "Well, that was... different," she said dryly.

Elena snorted. "Which part? The part where we found out that our parents are nobility? Or that they were most likely murdered by what we used to consider fictional characters? Or that we met some more fictional characters tonight while in the home of one of said fictional characters? Or that you just met someone that you've been crushing on since the moment the first Hobbit movie came out?"

Celia glared at her sister, a light flush staining her cheeks. "That was a lot of fictional characters that we met in real life for one sentence."

Elena grinned. "And that's the only part that you're going to comment on?" Celia stayed silent, maintaining her glare. Her sister only laughed. "Come on, let's put these dishes away and go find Uncle Bilbo. He's bound to be around here somewhere." Shaking her head, Celia quickly dried the dishes and gave them to her sister to put away.

Once the sink was empty, the two girls decided to look in Bilbo's bedroom first, as it was unlikely that he would be with the dwarves at the moment. They found Bilbo sitting on the bed quietly, lost in thought.

"Uncle Bilbo?" Celia said tentatively. He startled, eyes swinging to them before brightening.

"Girls. Did you need anything?" he asked.

Elena shook her head. "Nah. We just wanted to see how you were doing, what with all the... dwarves, and stuff."

Bilbo snorted. "Well, aside from the state of my plumbing and pantry, everything's going fine. Much better than you told me it originally did, at any rate."

Elena smiled. "See? You're doing great!" Her expression changed, and she tilted her head to the side. "Wait. Do you hear that?"

Celia frowned. "Hear what?"

Bilbo shook his head. "No. I hear it too. A humming." He crept to the door, listening.

Celia's eyes widened. "Wait. Is this -"

Elena nodded. "I think so," she said softly. "Shh. I want to hear." For down the hall, was coming a low humming sound that soon delved into music, slow and breathtaking.

 _"_ _Far over the misty mountains cold_

 _To dungeons deep and caverns old_

 _We must away, ere break of day,_

 _To claim our long-forgotten gold._

 _The winds were moaning in the night._

 _The fire was red, it flaming spread;_

 _The trees like torches blazed with light._

 _Far over the misty mountains grim_

 _To dungeons deep and caverns dim_

 _We must away, ere break of day,_

 _To win our harps and gold from him!"_

Celia shivered, feeling goosebumps rising along her skin. "That song... it has to be one of the most amazing songs I have ever heard."

Bilbo nodded in agreement. "If I had not already agreed to come, that song probably would have enticed me into coming anyways." He shook it off suddenly. "At any rate, it's getting late. I've already set out blankets and such for the dwarves. Gandalf will be sleeping in the Big Folk bedroom my father built, and Master Thorin and his nephews will be sleeping in the remaining guest bedroom. You two had better go on and get some sleep now. If what you tell me is true, then then we'll be needing all the sleep we can get on this journey."

Celia nodded, giving him a hug. "Night, Bilbo!"

xXx

The next morning Bilbo was already gone when the girls got up. "I believe he went down to see his grandfather about the quest, Lady Celia," Balin explained when she asked. "And forgive my lack of manners in failing to introduce myself earlier. I am Balin, at your service."

Celia smiled. "Don't worry. It was... very chaotic, last night. Particularly with all the revelations about me and my sister. And please, call me Celia, Master Balin. I'm not used to the 'Lady' part."

Balin chuckled. "I can try, but I make no promises. And please, call me Balin."

Celia grinned. "I make no promises."

After getting breakfast, Gandalf, who had been missing until then, suddenly showed up. "If you would not mind, Lady Celia, Lady Elena, I would like to discuss with you certain... facts that were revealed last night."

Thorin nodded. "As would I. If there is a private spot you would prefer to meet?" His voice was polite, but it was clear that it was not a request.

Elena swallowed nervously. "Bilbo's study should be fine. It's just right down this hallway."

Thorin nodded again. "Dwalin, Fíli, make sure that everything gets loaded onto the horses," he ordered, before following the girls and Gandalf into the study and shutting the door securely behind them.

Once inside, Elena stood by the desk and fidgeted nervously as both Gandalf and Thorin were silent. "So... what did you want to talk about?" Celia asked hesitantly, when it became apparent that neither of them were going to speak first.

Gandalf raised his eyebrows. "I have several questions, Lady Celia, but perhaps the most pressing one would be what exactly you know about the nature of our quest."

She blinked, startled. "I don't - what do you mean?"

Gandalf simply looked back at her. "I mean, dear lady, that you showed signs of recognition when I spoke of your being a randir." He sighed. "While that does not necessarily mean anything in and of itself, you also showed signs of knowledge of what it was you were meant to do."

He paused for a moment, thinking. "I believe there were randirwho knew what was to come before, as well. Many millennia ago, during the battle with the Dark Lord, at the gates of Mordor. A man who warned us of what would happen if the Ring of Power was not destroyed when the Dark Lord fell."

He suddenly paused as Celia bit her lip. "But you know of what I speak, don't you?" he said softly. "Bilbo could not have told you, as most hobbits know little of life beyond the Shire, even one as educated as Bilbo Baggins, and you were not old enough to know when you left for your world." His eyes sharpened with interest, as beside him, Thorin suddenly stiffened with realization.

"What did your world tell you of ours?" Gandalf asked, his tone still soft, but a power could be felt gathering around him.

Celia swallowed before answering. "There - there were books, in our world. Books that told of a seven year war to fight back a Dark Lord, his fall, and the disappearance of his great weapon. Tales of elves, and men, and dwarves. But never any tales about hobbits." She drew in a breath, noticing how Gandalf and Thorin were closely following her story. "Until the story set thousands of years later, that told of a hobbit, a wizard, and thirteen dwarves who set out to free a lonely mountain from a dragon."

Thorin drew in a breath, his eyes widening in shock as she continued. "And then one more story, the final in a series of legends - history now, I suppose," she added as an afterthought. "This story was called the War of the Ring. And it told of nine brave free folk who against all odds, set out to destroy the One Ring and save Middle Earth."

Gandalf's eyes widened. "The Ring is found?"

Celia hesitated before nodding. "Yes. And the War of the Ring takes place within the next sixty years." She turned to Thorin, who was still watching in stunned silence. "And that's why Bilbo Baggins has to go with us. If Bilbo Baggins does not go on this quest, and Erebor is not reclaimed, Middle Earth will fall."

Thorin seemed to find his voice and raised his eyebrow. "One halfling is that important to the fate of the world?" he asked skeptically.

Elena glared at him. "I forgot how much of a jerk you were until Bilbo saved your life several times," she muttered under her breath, ignoring the scrutinizing frown he sent her way.

Celia sighed, exasperated. "Fine. Let me put it to you this way, with as few spoilers as I can. Bilbo directly saves your life, and the lives of everyone in the Company, several times. Erebor cannot be reclaimed without you. If Erebor never becomes a stronghold for good, then when the Dark Lord rises to power again - and he will, he's rising now - it will be much easier for him to take over Gondor and the other kingdoms."

Having silenced Thorin temporarily, she turned to Gandalf, who had been watching the exchange keenly, and said, "If you still have doubt, and trust me, we felt it too, when we first realized we were here, then if this statement is true, it will prove our knowledge." Lowering her voice, she said quietly. "Is it, or is it not, true that Isildur's heir now resides in the place you intend to take us for the map to be read?"

Gandalf stared at her, eyes reading her intently. After a moment, he nodded, before swinging around to Thorin. "That statement will never leave this room, do you understand me, Thorin Oakenshield?" he demanded, power lacing his voice.

Thorin glared at him. "Do not take me for a fool, Gandalf. I understand the need for secrecy, especially regarding this matter." He glanced at Celia and Elena. "It seems then that your world did indeed tell you of ours. All I ask is that you keep your knowledge a secret." He saw the looks on their faces and smiled grimly. "Did you think that I would demand all of your knowledge of our quest instantly?"

Elena looked awkwardly at Celia. "Maybe a little," she hedged. "I mean, it- it seems the normal thing to do."

"But not the wisest," he said bluntly. "I ask that you keep your knowledge to yourself, and only use it to prevent the death or harm of one of the Company." Celia and Elena looked at each other, trying to weight the pros and cons, before looking at Thorin and agreeing.

"But, there are one or two things I have to make clear, first," Elena said. "First, it's been a while since we've read the books or anything. We remember the really big stuff, but not all of it. So don't expect us to know everything. Second, just a reminder that sometimes things get worse before they get better. As in, some things we'll have to let happen so that something else, that's even more important, can happen."

Thorin frowned, mulling over her conditions before agreeing. "That seems reasonable."

A sharp knock sounded at the door.

Thorin scowled, striding to the door and pulling it open, only to see Balin standing before them. "Bilbo's back, and he brought a letter from his grandfather for you, Thorin," he said, handing him a letter.

Thorin nodded. "Tell everyone to mount up. I want to get a move on. It's almost noon as it is."

Balin nodded, ushering the girls out. "I trust you are all packed up, ladies?"

Elena nodded. "We did it last night."

Balin hesitated. "And one more thing. We tried to find you both some ponies, but were unable to. I'm afraid you'll have to ride double. Sorry ladies. The lads have offered to ride with you though, if you're willing."

"Fíli and Kíli?" Elena asked.

Balin nodded. "They said they had already met you last night, so it might be a bit less awkward for you."

Celia hid a smile. "I'm sure." She turned to her sister. "It'll probably be for the best anyways. It's been a while since we've ridden anything, and I was never the greatest at it." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "And I still say that that that pony tried to throw me." Catching Bilbo out of the corner of her eye, she made her excuses to Balin and hurried to her uncle. "So how did it go?" she asked eagerly.

He smiled. "It went well. He promised to keep the Sacksville-Baggins away, wished me luck, and gave me a letter for Thorin that I'm sure is full of well-meaning threats for him to make sure I don't get myself killed, or something like that. Oh, and he said to wish you and Elena well on this, and I quote, 'hare-brained quest.'"

Celia grinned. "Sounds like him." They both turned to look as Thorin and Gandalf stepped out of the house, Thorin holding the folded letter, and scowling.

"Well, doesn't he look happy," Elena muttered, coming up behind them.

Celia jumped, not expecting that, but snorted. "I think that's his natural look. That and majestically brooding."

"Time to mount up," Thorin called, gathering everyone's attention. "I want to be leaving within fifteen minutes."

Celia looked at her sister. "It's starting. We're finally starting on a long-expected, unexpected journey."

Elena snorted. "How long have you been waiting to say that cheesy line?"

"Too long," her sister grinned. "Now let's get this party started!"

* * *

 **A/N: They're finally getting a move on...That's good, right? Progress is good...**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to mama yaga, ro781727, MissCallaLilly, and E for reviewing!**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: Darn it, you guys caught me...I'm really JRR Tolkien back from the dead, writing romance-centered fanfiction of an epic story that focused on friendship over romance, and was amazingly written...I'm blaming this story's quirks on being dead. The Hobbit and LOTR belong to the JRR Tolkien estate *cough* I mean, me...**


	10. Chapter 10 - Leaving the Shire

~~Elena~~

Elena shook her head, giving up on her sister.

"Pardon me, Elena, but we should start mounting up. Uncle wants to get going as soon as possible," Fíli said, breaking into her thoughts.

Elena tilted her head thoughtfully. "I suppose I'm riding with you then?"

Fíli nodded. "And your sister will be riding with my brother. Uncle and Balin thought it best that you ride with us, as we are the lighter members of the group, more experienced riders than some, and since we already met you last night."

Elena chuckled, nodding her head to where Kíli was tightening the straps on the saddle of his pony and talking to Celia at the same time, an animated look on his face. She looked unamused. "This should be interesting," she said with a grin.

Turning to look at his brother, Fíli tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Biting her lip to stop a grin, she finally gave up and admitted, "Celia _hates_ riding horses. She loves archery; earned a whole bunch of awards for it back home, and can go camping on her own like the best, but she's never been able to ride a horse. At least, not on her own. She claims they hate her, and always have it out for her."

Fíli smiled. "You're right. That does sound like it would be tricky for her. However, my brother, despite his general inexperience, is an excellent rider, and will do his best to keep your sister on the pony. But, what about you? You have said nothing of your skills with horses. Shall I require a strap to keep you on as well?" he asked, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Elena snorted. Making a show of going over the saddle, she raised an eyebrow as she pulled a strap tighter. "Planning on sending us both flying, instead of just me?" she asked wryly.

Fíli grimaced. "Ehhh, I _may_ have forgotten to double-check that strap," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Elena nodded easily. "Of course. And just so you know," she added, "I got third place in a horse camp, once. I was one of the shortest girls there, of course, as apparently the height gene carried across worlds, but I still did better than about twenty other girls."

Fíli smiled, giving a bow before taking his place on the pony. "I see now that you are a true horse master, my lady. Was your sister among those you beat in your contest?"

Elena snorted, expertly mounting the pony behind him. "I would have beat her, of course, but she flat out refused to come. Something about having the sense to be scared of creatures that could trample her to the ground without breaking a sweat. And that would most likely enjoy doing so."

Fíli tilted his head to the side. "Your sister, she is... afraid of horses, then?"

Elena nodded. " Kíli's going to have a hard time getting her on the pony," she said with a laugh.

Fíli shook his head. "I'm not too sure about that, Elena," he said, gesturing over to where Celia was seated - albeit with an extremely discomforted expression on her face - on her pony behind Kíli, glaring at the dwarf, who, judging by his expression, was trying desperately to hold in a laugh.

Elena narrowed her eyes. "Can you bring us over there?" she asked. "I have to know how he accomplished that." Fíli grinned and acquiesced. Once they got close enough, Elena called out, "So, Kíli, how exactly did you get my sister on that pony? I've been trying for years to get her to start riding, and she's refused me every time."

Switching her glare to her sister, Celia bit out, "Kíli had nothing to do with it. I got on the pony because I had to. Back home, I never had the need to ride, so I never did."

Looking at Kíli for confirmation, he nodded with a grin. "It's true. The only part I was involved in was helping her get mounted. The rest of it - including the comments that I wasn't being helpful - were all hers."

Elena shook her head. "I'm torn between laughing, and being mad that it took being thrown into another world for my sister to finally willingly ride a horse, and not just because our mom thought it would be a good skill to have. And even then, it's not a horse, but a pony! She's still never ridden a horse of her own free will!"

Celia sulked. "It's not my fault we lost nearly a foot in height coming here. And you should be glad I'm not trying to avoid my fear."

Elena twitched. "You wouldn't."

Tilting her head back defiantly, her sister said, "Try me."

Looking back and forth between the two sisters, Kíli said, "I'm sensing a story here."

"Me too," Fíli agreed. "And I, for one, would be most interested to hear it, particularly as it seems we are about to set out," he said, nodding towards where Thorin and Gandalf were astride their mounts and arguing quietly over some technicality, but heading towards the path that led out of the Shire.

And they were right, for not a minute later, Thorin called out over his shoulder, "Let's move out!"

Quickly mounting their ponies, the rest of the company formed a line behind Thorin and set out, leaving Fíli, Kíli, and the girls towards the end of the line along with Bilbo, who had been coerced onto his pony about ten minutes ago, with about as much joy towards his mount as Celia had expressed.

Grinning at his expression, Elena turned to him as they rode and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Bilbo. I'm sure that by the time this journey is over, all of us, even you, will be excellent pony riders." Glaring at her, Bilbo opened his mouth to speak, but then paused and stared up ahead at Thorin, who had just turned down a side path.

"Hold on, what's he doing, then? That's not a good path to take, not at all."

Craning her head around Kíli to look, Celia gasped in realization. "He's taking us to the Old Forest!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Kíli asked uncertainly.

Nodding vigorously, Celia swallowed. "Yes. Bad enough trying to travel through the Old Forest by day, it gets worse at night. And then, and then... Assuming you make it out, you have to face the Barrow-Downs."

Seeing both Elena and Bilbo unsuccessfully try to fight off a shiver, Fíli declared, "I'm going to tell Uncle. If this path is a danger, he needs to know." Putting his hand to his mouth, he called out a string of words in what Elena could only assume was the dwarfish language, causing the entire party to halt and look back at them.

Riding back to them, Thorin said with a scowl on his face, "What do you mean that this path is dangerous?" Looking at Bilbo, the two girls let him answer.

Shooting them a look that promised retribution, he said hesitantly, "Well, it's just that this is the path that leads to the Old Forest - a place that no one in their right mind goes unless they absolutely have to, with a large group, and no further than they have to. There are... stories... of that place."

Raising an eyebrow, Thorin sneered, "So you would have us flee from a legend, then?"

Glaring at him, Celia snapped, "No, he's trying to save our lives. I know of at least four hobbits who were nearly killed in there.* Not by creatures in there, but by the trees themselves. They were only saved by the presence of a very powerful older being, who was watching over that place. The trees in the Old Forest are alive, or at least a great deal of them are. Rumored to be descended from the forest of Fangorn, the Brandybuck clan is charged to keep them in the forest, and from overtaking the Shire, which they have attempted in the past."

The dwarves, who had been eagerly listening to the talk, stirred visibly at the mention of Fangorn.

"I've heard talk of Fangorn," Nori muttered to Dori. "And none of it good."

Gandalf, who had been an interested watcher up until this point, interjected, "What Bilbo and Lady Celia say is true, Thorin. While the hedge at the border of Buckland helps to keep the trees in the Old Forest, the trees often grow right up to the edge of the border, and are only kept at bay by the memory of a fire, set by hobbits some generations ago, in a last-ditch attempt to keep them in the forest."

Narrowing his eyes, Thorin asked, "But you are a wizard, Gandalf. Are you not able to fend off these... trees?"

Looking both amused and serious, Gandalf shook his head. "Perhaps I could get us through the forest, but once we left the forest, we would have to face the Barrow-Downs. And even were I able to fend off the Barrow-Wights, a questionable endeavor at best, it would still add costly time to our journey."

Glowering, Thorin demanded, "Well, where would you have us go, then? The path on the map leads towards this 'Old Forest' of yours."

Deciding it was time to speak up, Elena interjected, "Bilbo could lead us to the quickest path out of the Shire."

Speaking before Bilbo or Thorin could, most likely to shoot down Elena's idea, Gandalf said, "That sounds like a wonderful idea! Having grown up here, I'm sure Bilbo will know all the right paths to take, and what places to avoid."

Thorin glowered for a moment before giving in. "Very well. I suppose you might as well come up front, then, Mister Baggins. Are there any other... places to avoid?"

Thinking for a moment, Bilbo shook his head. "Not that I can think of off the top of my head. If we're avoiding the Old Forest, then the next main thing that we should have to worry about would be the Bounders. But with Celia, Elena, and I, you should be left well enough alone, so long as you don't bother anyone."

"Well, left alone except for Lobelia Sacksville-Baggins who seems to have a bone to pick with you again, Uncle Bilbo," Elena said, nodding towards where an angry hobbit woman could be seen marching towards them.

Thorin gave an angry sigh, and muttered something to Dwalin about, "Never leaving the Shire, it seems."

Gandalf just seemed amused, and Bilbo... Bilbo just gave a resigned sigh, before putting on his "company face," as Celia liked to call it, and saying, "Well, hello, Cousin Lobelia. What can I do for you today?"

The hobbit glared at him before sputtering shrilly, "What can you -? Well, for starters, you could explain exactly what you were thinking, leaving Bag End to Drogo Baggins! The boy's not even fully of age, yet! Not to mention that Otho was supposed to be your heir, not some brainless cousin! And after all we've done for you, too! His family even tried to take you in when your poor mother passed away," she said, putting on an injured air.

Celia raised an eyebrow and 'muttered' loud enough for Lobelia to hear, "Hmm. I wonder what possible reasons he could have for taking away a wedding present for his mother from a pinch-faced old hag who's done nothing but badger him, insult him and his family repeatedly, try to steal his inheritance, and then, on top of all that, do absolutely nothing but be an absolute menace to all of Hobbiton in general, but to a dear old hobbit who's done absolutely nothing but be courteous to her in particular."

Raising her eyes to look the older woman square in the face, she glared at her. "Oh!" She said in fake surprise. "It seems as though he does have plenty of reasons to disinherit you. Drogo is a lovely boy, and certainly much better behaved then you. Everyone knows that the main reason you married Otho is for the money, and your only interest in Bag End is for the wealth and stature it would give you. You haven't cared a wit about Bilbo, only for what he could get for you. And it's no use trying to get Bag End, either. Bilbo made sure that his will was airtight, and left it with the Thain for good measure."

When the older woman did nothing more than stand there, gaping, she rolled her eyes and turned away. "I think we can go now," she called ahead. "I believe that the problem has been dealt with."

Eyes twinkling, Gandalf turned to Bilbo. "I believe she means you, my dear Bilbo. For you to guide us, it would require your presence near the front."

Bilbo, who had been watching the previous exchange with wide eyes, shook his head. "What - oh, right. Sorry." Flushing, he led his pony near to the front of the group. "We'll need to go that way," he said, tilting his head towards the right. "It's the quickest path out of here."

Thorin raised an eyebrow at him, even as he turned his pony in the direction Bilbo indicated. "I would, indeed, appreciate speed, as our morning has already been delayed enough."

Sitting behind Kíli, Celia switched her glare from Lobelia, now fading into the distance, still staring after them, to the exiled king's back. "Delayed enough, indeed," she muttered angrily. "As if it were his fault what happened."

Lips twitching in what might have been a smile, Fíli offered, "I'm afraid that Uncle's always been a bit impatient like that. He doesn't necessarily mean it to be taken personally."

Raising her own eyebrow in turn, Elena pointed out, "I don't know about that, Fíli. He's been much more patient with me and Celia than he has been with Bilbo, and I know that Bilbo would have been nothing but courteous with him, even when Celia and I have had a bit of trouble controlling our tempers, as was just seen," she said with a laugh, tilting her head behind them.

Twisting around a bit to look at her, Fíli laughed. "I'm afraid that I would have to agree with you there. Celia did seem a bit... unhappy... with the woman."

Celia snorted. "That's putting it lightly. And if you knew everything she'd done, or tried to do. I doubt that you'd like her very much either."

Kíli shrugged. "Well, we've got a long trip ahead of us. Might as well do something to pass the time." A thought seemed to hit him, and he winced. "That is, if you don't think it would be impolite to do so."

Shaking her head, Elena said, "No, what Lobelia's done is pretty well know throughout Hobbiton. And while Celia wasn't exactly polite when dealing with her, I can't exactly say I wouldn't have felt tempted to do the exact same thing."

"What exactly did she do, then, if you don't mind my asking?" Kíli said hesitantly.

"More like, what didn't she do?" Elena muttered. Raising her voice to normal, she said, "Well, for starters, Bilbo was just shy of coming of age when his father died, and his mother was seriously wounded, leaving a large inheritance for him, including Bag End, which is considered one of the best smials in the Shire. Almost immediately, Lobelia's family and her husband's were after him like hawks; claiming that he was too young to be in charge of a home, and that it should be passed on to someone older and wiser. Like them."

"Wait. You mean that they tried to take the home of a grieving _child_? Who'd just lost his parents?" Kíli demanded.

Celia grimaced. "Not quite. He was twenty-nine, then, and had about four years to go. Unfortunately, his mother would need constant care for the rest of her life, and they claimed that he wasn't ready for that, and that as the closest friends of his family who _weren't_ banned from inheriting anything, they should be the ones to take him in, and take over Bag End. It was a near thing, too. It was only his relationship with some of the higher authorities, and that his mother could still speak rationally, that kept him there."

Elena jumped in, both Fíli and Kíli listening intently. "Then, once his mother did pass on, a few years later, and Bilbo inherited Bag End completely, Lobelia began trying to... get his hand. As in, she literally tried to marry her way into his fortune."

She couldn't help but laugh at the looks of disgust on their faces. "Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought, too. And when that was clearly going nowhere, she ended up marrying Otho Sacksville-Baggins, who was Bilbo's heir by being his next-of-kin, as long as he didn't have any children. She's been pestering Bilbo ever since, and keeps visiting just to irritate him, and make off with his silver spoons."

"She sounds like a rather unkind woman," Fíli commented mildly.

Elena snorted. "You have no idea. When we showed up, almost all of Hobbiton welcomed us, after being a bit shy at first. All except her. Almost two years of living here, and Celia being apprenticed to the local healer, and they still hate us. Not sure why, as we were never supposed to inherit Bag End anyways, but they did. And if she or Otho had a medical problem, they always refused to be treated by 'that dwarf'. They would only let the healer herself treat them."

Bofur, who had been riding nearby, chimed in, "It sounds like Hobbiton has it's own fair share of hatred for dwarves, then. It'd been beginning to sound a bit too much like a paradise to be true."

Raising her eyebrow at him, Elena said, "Master Bofur, if you're going to assume that all hobbits are like Lobelia and Otho, then I'm going to assume that all dwarves, barring me and Celia, of course, are as rude, impatient, and prejudiced as your leader up there. Because clearly if you've met one, then every single other person of that race will be exactly the same."

Throwing his hands up in the air in a sign of surrender, Bofur said, with slight amusment, "Now, now, lass. I didn't mean for you to be taking any offense at my words. I was just stating the fact that it don't appear to have escaped the Shire, none, either."

Elena sighed. "None taken, Master Bofur. I'm sorry. I'm just used to too many people being dismissive of others they haven't even taken the time to know yet, and all because of their race."

"Is it like that in your world?" Kíli asked curiously.

Celia tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Sort of. You wouldn't think that it'd be as much of a problem, considering that there's only humans in our world, but some people just leap at any opportunity to hate others, and some people... some people are just blind to what's plainly obvious."

"But, if you're all humans, then what's there to hate, aside from the wealth of people better off than you?" Bofur asked uncertainly.

Elena sighed. "Anything different. Anything deemed lesser than your standards of perfection. For so many years, people were treated as slaves, and tortured and killed, just because they came from a different country, or had a slightly different sounds color."

"That sounds a lot like how a lot of people view the dwarves, actually," Fíli said, frowning. "They know nothing about us except the fact that we're dwarves, and for many of them, that's all they need to know."

"Like your relationship with the Elves?" Celia asked curiously. "'Cause from what I know, it seems like a mutually hateful relationship."

Fíli shook his head. "That's a bit different. The elves make no secret of their dislike of us, so we do not hide it from them. In addition, they have made multiple injuries to us that are not so easily forgotten."

Celia bit her lip. "But hate and revenge never fix anything," she whispered. "They only bring about more hate. And if everyone went around hating anyone who even looked remotely similar to someone who had once done them a wrong, the world would be a much darker place than it already is."

"The elves have legitimately done us harm, and refused us desperately needed aid," Kíli pointed out calmly.

Celia shook her head. "And I'm not saying that what they did was right, just that we can't go around hating everyone for the actions of one person. It'd be a sad way to live your life, refusing to see the good in all people on the off chance that they might be like this other person who did you harm. I mean, Elena and I were nearly killed by the actions of a drunk person when we were young, but that doesn't mean that every time we see someone start to take a drink of wine, we go up and punch them in the face before dumping the wine on the ground. Although it'd be kind of funny to see their faces if we did," she mused.

"You were nearly killed when you were younger?" Fíli asked, eyes wide. "Even in your world, with no dragons or orcs?"

Elena nodded, chuckling. "What do you think, Cel? Should we tell them the dramatic tale of our childhood?"

Celia shrugged, taking in their surroundings. They were on the outskirts of Hobbiton by now, and coming close to the fields of produce raised by the farmers each year. "Why not?" She said at last. "We've still got a ways to go before we get out of the Shire, and it won't even be lunch for a while yet. So the question is," she addressed the boys, "Do you want the dramatic version of our adventurous childhood, or the plain, boring, unembelished tale?"

Fíli thought for a moment before chuckling and saying, "Well, like you said, we've still got a ways to go before we stop for the night. Might as well go for the 'dramatic and interesting' tale."

Elena grinned. "All right. But you can't say that we didn't warn you, then."

Fíli bowed his head gravely. "Consider my brother and I duly warned."

"It was a dark and stormy night, many years ago," Elena began, pitching her voice lower than normal. "It seemed like any other stormy night, except for one thing. Tonight, the children of the town were going to visit the old haunted house near the edge of town. Rumors said that an old family had been killed there once when the roof caved in on accident, and that on dark nights, when the moon was full, you could still hear the cries of the children. So, of course they had to go see for themselves if they rumors were true."

"The only thing they hadn't counted on," Celia chimed in, her voice as low as her sister's, "was on hearing the sounds of the children crying nearby, as though it were in the very backyard. Thoroughly unnerved, but determined not to show fear, the kids crept through the fence into the backyard, only to find two small children lying unconscious on the ground, dressed in unrecognizable clothes, and definitely not from their town. Panicked, they called the authorities about the strange visitors before taking off."

"And when the authorities arrived," Elena broke back in, "They made every effort to find the lost little girls' family, as they were undoubtedly related. They waited another two or three days for the children to wake up, only to find that the only information they could get from them, was a garbled version of their names - Cel'cel and El'na. After two months with no response, it was decided to name the two supposed orphans 'Celia' and 'Elena', and dump them in the town orphanage until they were adopted."

"Wait. I thought you said you were unconscious? But then how did the other children hear you crying?" Kíli interrupted.

Elena winked at him. "Who said it was us?" Without waiting for an answer, she went on. "And there the poor orphans stayed for the next two years, hoping for someone to come along who would love them and take them home. Then, when they were about six years of age in human terms, tragedy struck. The man left in charge of the orphanage turned to drink to make him feel better about his personal and financial problems. And one night, completely drunk, he deliberately set the orphanage on fire in an attempt to be given more money for raising the orphans there. Thankfully everyone got out in time, and no one was hurt, but the orphanage was destroyed."

At this point, Bofur, who had been listening in, exclaimed, "Do you mean to tell me that someone almost killed a whole building full of innocent children for money?"

Celia nodded solemnly, taking the role of story teller back. "But don't worry. Like I said, no one got hurt, and it worked out for the best in the end. Moved by the orphans' plight, people began taking in the orphans. Among the future parents, was an escaped warrior princess, who had fled from her realm after her father had attempted to force her into a loveless marriage. As she fled, she took a large part of her inheritance with her, ensuring that she would never have to starve for want of food. Upon seeing the orphans, she was instantly drawn to a lovely little lass with black hair, and her boring older sister who had some skills with a paintbrush."

"Now hold on a minute!" Elena protested. " As I recall, she took us in because she wanted to see my art talent grow, and she felt pity for you on seeing the tangled rats nest you called your hair."

Celia eyed her sister. "I'm pretty sure that that's not what happened, but considering that you're the older sister, it's also quite obvious that your memory is starting to go due to your old age. Rationality will clearly be the next to go. But you've spent most of your life being delusional anyways, so, it shouldn't be too hard for me to adjust." Fíli and Kíli suddenly broke out into simultaneous coughing fits.

"Is that what's happening to Fíli?" Kíli wondered innocently, ignoring how his brother suddenly whipped his head over to glare at him along with Elena. "I mean, I've often wondered, but I thought it was just me. But now, I'm guessing that it's real, and happening to your sister as well?"

Celia nodded, wiping away a fake tear. "I'm afraid so. It must be the stress of constantly trying to boss others around, all the time."

Elena raised her eyebrow, still glaring at her sister. "May I remind you, sister dearest, that you spent a large amount of the years in our old world being "the boss", as you like to put it? Does that ring a bell? Hmm?"

Celia shook her head, putting a hand to her heart. "But even then, you were still the eldest, still doomed to lose your battle with rationality first."

Kíli made an expression of agreement. "She's got a point, there, you have to admit."

Elena switched her glare to him. "Well, of course you'd agree with her!" She cried. "You're both the youngest siblings!"

"Now, now, Elena," Fíli broke in. "It's best if we just allow them to believe their delusions in peace. We know better, so we'll just let them enjoy their ignorance for a little longer. Why don't you finish your tale?" he suggested.

Elena shrugged, finally allowing her glare to drop. "There's not much more to tell. The warrior princess took us in, and raised us like her own daughters, even training us in the arts of war so that we could defend ourselves if need be. Celia in the art of archery, and myself in the wielding of axes."

"Axes? You mentioned something like that earlier back in the hobbit's home. I happen to know a bit about them myself. Would you be interested in letting me see your skills? Perhaps training you a bit, if need be?" Dwalin's voice startled all four of them, as none of them had noticed him riding up, causing Celia to let out a startled, "Oh!" and accidentally clutch Kíli's waist a bit harder in surprise, before she flushed and eased her grip.

Elena considered him for a moment before answering. "I'd be honored, Master Dwalin. I know that I am no master of axes yet, and to be taught by a warrior such as yourself is an honor."

Dwalin eyed her for a moment before saying in his rough brogue, "I'll see you after supper tonight, then." And without waiting for her answer, he spurred his pony to the front of the group, and back to his place besides Thorin.

Elena started after him for a moment before turning to her equally startled sister. "Did I seriously just get offered a chance to train with him?"

Fíli chuckled. "I'd say so. And you should count yourself honored. He doesn't offer to train just anyone. Should the weather hold til tonight, you'll probably be driven farther than any other instructor would have driven you, but you'll also learn a lot more."

Elena grinned happily. "Well, I hope the weather holds, then. I'm looking forward to it!"

xXx

But the weather didn't hold. It started to pour shortly after lunchtime, and continued for the rest of the night. In fact, it continued to storm for the next few weeks, as they rode out of the Shire, and further into the east than Bilbo or the girls had ever gone. But that was not so bad. They could handle that. What did present a problem was when one of the ponies took fright at a clap of thunder and took off into the river.

Fíli plunged in after it without hesitation, only to be hit in the head by a glancing blow from one of the pony's hooves, and sink beneath the waves.

Kíli let out an anguished cry and plunged into the raging waters after him, leaving the rest of the Company standing dumbstruck above, staring at the waters where two of their dearest members had disappeared.

* * *

 **A/N: In which I totally decimate the timeline of events...**

 **So, the first time I published this on Wattpad, I ended up getting extremely busy and leaving this chapter up for five weeks with no updates...I still feel kind of bad about that. D: But, no worries! I have the next chapter ready, so the cliffhanger should only last until next Tuesday. :)**

 **Thank you to everyone who favorited and followed, and shout-out to thewolf74, E, and mama yaga for reviewing! To answer a few questions...**

 ** _Q:Is anybody going to die?  
A: Well, this chapter would seem to indicate something of that sort, I suppose. It wouldn't affect the story too much to kill off two of the main characters ten chapters in, would it?_**

 ** _Q: Will anybody fall in love with Thorin?  
A: Welllllll, now that Fíli and Kíli are out of the way...I'm thinking of maybe having Tauriel fall in love with him if I end up writing her in. It'd be a great plot twist. I'm thinking maybe Dori and Balin for the girls, lol. ;)_**

 ** _Q: What was in the letter to Thorin?  
A: Basically the usual..."Bring Bilbo back alive, or I'll make you regret it... He's my favorite grandson, etc." The usual protective family sort of letter. I probably won't be bringing it up very often, so that's the gist of it._**

 ***Also, when Celia says this, she is referring to Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin on their adventure through the Old Forest when they're leaving the Shire. They're almost killed by Old Man Willow, before being saved by an ancient being known as Tom Bombadil**

 **Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I'm actually from the future, so... I couldn't possibly be JRR Tolkien, who owns the Hobbit and LOTR. Beam me up, Scotty! My work here is done.**


	11. Chapter 11 - Making Waves

~~Celia~~

It had started out as a normal enough day - including the pouring rain that had been ever-present since before they left the Shire. Having remembered to pack their raincoats, the girls were in merry enough spirits, having managed to stay relatively dry. Fíli and Kíli, despite being thoroughly soaked due to leaving their version of rain coats at home, also managed to be somewhat cheerful. Everyone else, including Bilbo, were a good deal older - mentally, at least - and so thoroughly disgusted with the the weather.

"Here, Mister Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked miserably, after a particularly large raindrop had fallen down the back of his tunic.

Gandalf sighed. "It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

A glimmer of curiosity entered Bilbo's eyes. "Are there any?" he asked, lifting his head from it's previous hunched over position.

"What?" asked Gandalf.

"Other wizards," Bilbo elaborated.

Gandalf nodded slowly, gathering his thoughts. "There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names."

Celia narrowed her eyes at the mention of Saruman. "Filthy traitor!" she coughed quietly. Elena shot her an amused glance, but put a finger to her lips. Fíli and Kíli merely glanced at her curiously, having heard something in her coughing fit, but unable to actually make out what they were.

Bilbo, meanwhile, was ignoring them - something he had quite a bit of practice at. "And who is the fifth?"

"Well, that would be Radagast the Brown," Gandalf answered.

Bilbo nodded, accepting the answer, before another gleam entered his eyes. "And is he a great wizard, or... more like you?"

This time it was Elena who had to hide her laughter in a coughing fit, while Gandalf merely looked offended. "I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

Celia nodded. "And sometimes it will find one right in our own backyard," she said softly.

Gandalf heard the whisper and looked back at her. "Do you speak of former allies turned traitors, Lady Celia, or of those who, while never deliberately working for the forces of Evil, will help its work rather than hinder it?"

Celia licked her lips before answering, noticing Thorin slightly turning his head back towards them. He was still keeping a watchful eye on the forest around them, but also listening closely to what they had to say.

"I think it can be both," she admitted. "For instance, in our world, the man who ran our orphanage wasn't deliberately evil, per se. He never abused us, or starved us, but he became a slave to drink, and ended up risking all of our lives in an attempt to get money for more liquor."

Dori, who hadn't heard this tale the first time, gasped in outrage. "How can you call that man anything but evil? If such a thing had happened in one of our cities, he'd have been executed for being so careless with lives - particularly the lives of children!"

Celia tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "I think my main point was that he wasn't necessarily acting out of malicious intent. He didn't want any of us to be killed, and he admitted as much at his trial. But what he did was very wrong. He let himself do a wicked deed, without necessarily evil motives. He was greedy, yes, but he never intended for all the children to be there at the time. And once he realized that, he tried as hard as he could in his drunken stupor to help."

She paused. "But then, there are also cases of those who were once allies, who turned away from all that is good and right." She looked up at Gandalf, wishing she could just come out and tell him. "There's a saying from our world, Master Gandalf, that I think sums it up fairly accurately. 'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' I think everyone here could at least name someone, if they don't know them personally, who became enticed with the idea of the power that they held, or could hold, and gave themselves over to it, willing to do whatever it takes to keep or gain hold of it - or get more."

Gandalf's eyes were serious. "There is great wisdom in what you say, Lady Celia, as well as great truth." He watched her for a moment longer before returning his eyes to the road in front of him.

A moment later she was drawn out of her thoughts when Thorin announced, "We'll camp here for the night."

She sighed, letting her shoulders droop as Kíli pulled the pony to a stop before dismounting and offering her a hand. She looked at him distrustfully. "You're not going to just let me drop, are you?" she asked suspiciously.

Kíli looked offended. "You wound me, Lady Celia," he cried, clasping a hand over his heart. "If I was going to drop you, I would have dropped you in that river over there," he nodded towards the rapidly-moving river on the side, "And not in the mud. I thought it would give you a chance to clean off the dirt of the day if you took a swim."

"I think you're the one in need of a deep cleansing, little brother," Fíli announced, coming up behind him and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "However, since you do not appear to trust my brother, could you perhaps place your trust in me, to get you down from your... most dangerous mount?"

Celia glared at him. "Fine. But only because it means I don't have to spend any longer on this stupid thing," she said, accepting his hand and letting him help her down.

Kíli doubled over in laughter. "Are you saying that you only trust my brother slightly more than the pony that you've been riding without incident for the last few weeks?"

Celia maintained her stony expression. "Considering that both of you have been deliberately calling Bilbo the wrong name since you met him, and that Blossom hasn't actually done anything yet, I'd say that I trust her more at this point in time."

"Wait. You named our pony _Blossom?_ " Kíli asked incredulously, ignoring the water streaming down his face. Fíli snorted as Celia shrugged.

"Well, it's not anyone else had a name for her, and if I had named her Breeheehinnyhooheeha no one would have gotten the reference, so... I decided to give her one of my own. I rather think it fits, don't you?" She looked at Kíli with wide, innocent eyes.

His face was a struggle for a minute before he blew out a breath in frustration and gave in. "Fine. One day, soon, I'll be totally immune to that face. And then see where that will get you!" he waved a finger at her threateningly.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you would refuse to help my sister if she asked you for aid? All because of a pony?"

"What? I - no!" Kíli exclaimed before throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. "I'm going to go unpack the ponies," he muttered, heading towards the supply pony.

Fíli laughed. "He always leaves himself open to some remark like that every time he gets into one of these word battles. But I suppose I should go help him." He nodded his head to the girls in farewell before following Kíli. They exchanged a few words before Kíli nodded and moved to help Bombur with the cooking supplies while Fíli finished with the supply pony.

However he hadn't gotten very far before the storm, which had been slowly growing closer all day, released a bolt of lightning that struck only a few miles away and produced a large clap of thunder that startled all the ponies, and jerked the already nerve-wracked supply pony into action.

Tearing its reins free from Fíli's hands, it took off running towards the river, only to slip on the mud and fall with a splash into the raging current. Already running after it, Fíli plunged into the river without hesitation, trying to get close enough to the scared pony to grab its reins, which had been caught on a low-hanging branch from a nearby tree.

Swimming with the current, he quickly caught up to the pony, only to be whacked in the head by one of the pony's frantically thrashing hooves. Losing consciousness immediately, his limp body no longer fought the current and was providentially swept into the same branch that held the pony up, keeping him from going further downstream.

Kíli, who had been watching worriedly on the banks of the river, immediately jumped in, yelling for Thorin as he did so. Thorin, who had been talking with Gandalf, whipped his head around at the fear in Kíli's voice, and took in the situation at a glance. Taking off towards the river at a run, he shouted for Óin to be ready.

Plunging into the river, he quickly caught up to his nephews and helped a struggling Kíli hold Fíli above the water. By this time all the dwarves had been alerted to the action, and were getting ready to help. Dwalin and Bífur quickly worked together to get the supply pony calmed and back onto dry ground, while Celia and Elena stayed with Óin, grabbing whatever might be needed, and Bombur started making a fire under a nearby overhang of rock, trying to find some dry wood.

"Get back to shore, Kíli," Thorin called. "I've got him. You'll only be a distraction from now on, if I'm worried about you as well as him." Kíli, hanging tightly onto the branch, looked ready to protest for a minute, but a look at Thorin's face convinced him. Jerking his head in a tight nod, he carefully made his way to shore, clutching the branch the whole way. When he got close enough to shore, Dori reached out a hand and lifted him to the top of the bank and away from the dangerous muddy slope.

"Thanks," Kíli panted, falling to his knees and coughing up some water. Standing up, he tried to go back to the water, only to be stopped as Óin grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him towards the dry overhang.

"How about you warm up first, lad," he said sternly. "Your uncle has got it all under control. What you need right now is to warm up. Why don't you make some of that tea Dori insists on keeping around," he told Elena, who had been standing awkwardly by one wall. Grateful for something to do, she nodded eagerly and quickly got a pot of water set over the fire.

Kíli shook his head. "What I need right now is my brother!" he demanded. A triumphant shout went up from the dwarves by the river bank.

"There, now, they've got your brother. You see?" Óin said soothingly, only to dart out from the overhang a moment later as Thorin called frantically,

"Óin, he's not breathing!"

Kíli's face turned white at the words. Scrambling to his feet, he raced to Thorin's side, followed closely by the girls. Dropping to his knees, he clutched frantically at his brother's limp hand as Óin bent over Fíli, who lay pale and still on the ground, blood slowly trickling from a gash in his forehead.

A minute later Óin looked up at Thorin and shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Thorin. But he was under the water too long." Thorin's stern face fell and his eyes glittered with tears he refused to let fall even as he pulled a struggling Kíli to his side and clutched him close. After a minute, Kíli gave in and broke down, clutching his uncle and sobbing his brother's name.

Celia stared wide-eyed at Fíli's lifeless body before springing into action. "Not if I have anything to say about it," she snapped. Kneeling beside Fíli's chest, she started to push aside his vest and tunic, feeling for a pulse and checking for chest rise at the same tine.

"What are you doing, girl?" Thorin demanded, his voice thick with grief.

"I have a chance to save him, Master Thorin," Celia said, not looking up from Fíli. "Right now he's only mostly dead. Wait any longer and it could be too late. I was a healer back in our world, and I've dealt with cases like this before. Elena, I'm gonna need your help," she said determinedly, giving up on tugging his tunic off, instead just pulling out one of Fíli's knives and cutting it down his front and pulling it off to the sides, leaving his chest bare.

"The 30:2?" Elena asked, kneeling on Fíli's other side. Celia nodded, placing her hands on Fíli's chest and beginning compressions.

"What's that?" Kíli asked shakily, still clinging to Thorin, but a small glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes.

Celia was still counting compressions, so Elena answered, keeping her eyes on Fíli. "It basically forces the heart to keep beating when the body can't do it on its own anymore. It also forces air into the lungs, helping to keep the patient alive until their heart stops again, or..."

"Or what?" Dwalin demanded, waiting tensely.

"Or it's deemed to late," Elena said softly, just as Celia finished the compressions.

"Elena!" she snapped.

Nodding, Elena bent down and, pinching Fíli's nose shut, quickly breathed two puffs of air into Fíli's mouth, seeing his chest rise from the second-hand air as she did so. Sitting back up, she watched as Celia instantly began the compressions again. "What I just did was essentially breathing for him, since he couldn't do it for himself. The hope is that the compressions should kick-start his heart into working on its own again," she explained.

"How long before we know if it works or not?" Kíli asked shakily.

Elena shrugged helplessly. "It could be anytime now. Typically, though, the average time until it's deemed too late is about two or three minutes. I think." She sighed. "But I was never the healer in the family." She leaned down again and gave two more breaths.

Celia was about halfway into the third set of compressions when Fíli's eyes suddenly jerked open and he started coughing up water. Quickly turning him onto his side, she rested one hand on his back. "That's it. Just cough it all out, Fíli," she muttered.

After a minute of frantic coughing, Fíli finally drew in a desperate breath of air and sat back with a gasp, only to be nearly bowled over as Kíli grabbed him tightly, hugging him for dear life. "I thought you were dead," he choked out.

Fíli patted him awkwardly on the back. "Uh, well, I'm not now, so..." He looked up at the others. "Would anyone mind telling me what happened? And maybe why my tunic has been cut down the middle?" He shivered. "It's really cold."

Óin sprang into action. "Never mind explanations now, we've got to get the lot of you warmed up." Carefully lifting Fíli to his feet, he placed Fíli's arm around his shoulder and helped him over to the overhang, Kíli grabbing Fíli's other arm along the way.

Once they got to the dry ground, Óin left Fíli in his brother's arms and grabbed some dry blankets out of a bag that had already been unpacked, laying them on the ground for Fíli to rest on, wrapping another one around his shoulders. When Thorin and the girls came in a minute later, Thorin immediately went to his nephews' side, drawing them both into a hug and speaking to them quietly Óin directed Elena on finishing the tea, and gave a cup to Thorin and the boys.

"I want all of you to drink these up," he ordered gruffly before sifting through his bag for some bandages for Fíli's forehead. "You're all soaked, and the heat will do you good. Dwalin and Bífur will be drinking it as well once they get in here, so don't get any ideas about not drinking them."

For once not complaining about having to drink tea, Fíli eagerly took the steaming cup and started sipping at the contents. "Now is anyone going to tell me what happened?" he asked, poking gingerly at his still-bleeding forehead until Óin batted his hand away, cleaning the wound before wrapping it with a clean bandage. "I remember the supply pony getting scared and bolting, but that's about it."

Thorin sighed, wrapping his hands around his cup. "What happened is you trying to send me to an early grave. _Again._ When the pony bolted, you followed it into the river, only to be struck on the head by one of its hooves. You passed out, and were only kept from being swept away by the same branch that kept us from losing the pony."

He paused as Dwalin and Bífur came in, and were immediately handed hot cups of tea by Óin. Once they sat down, he resumed. "Your brother immediately followed you, only to almost drown himself trying to keep you above water. Once we got you out," he paused, staring into the fire. "You weren't breathing."

Kili, sitting solemnly next to Fíli, wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Óin could do nothing further, and we had... given up hope for your survival," Thorin continued. Fíli's eyes widened, not having realizing how close to death he had been. "It was only because of Lady Celia and Lady Elena that you survived." He nodded toward the girls. "They performed some sort of healing act upon you, breathing for you until you awoke."

Elena nodded when Fíli looked at her. "The short name for it is CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. It's basically just stimulating the heart so that it keeps beating until it takes over on its own again. Celia knows more about it than I do, being trained as an emergency responder, but I know the basics, at least." She shrugged. "I'm just glad it worked."

Thorin nodded. "As am I, Lady Elena. As am I. I am indebted to the both of you for the life of my nephew." He bowed to her from his sitting position gravely.

Celia looked awkward. "Oh, well. There's no need for that. I only did what anyone else would've done if they'd known it." She was saved from responding further by the rest of the company trooping in.

"Ah, Master Fíli, I am glad to see you looking well," Gandalf said cheerily, stopping under the low roof and sitting down carefully.

"Aye. It was touch and go for a minute there, lad." Dwalin said. Turning to Thorin he added, "We've got the ponies tied up for the night. We lost two bags of food, though. Most of it was extra, but we'll need to restock our supplies soon, or doubtless we'll be feeling hungry soon."

Thorin nodded. "Hopefully there will be a town nearby where we can replenish our supplies. In the meantime, everyone is tired. I suggest we bed down for the night. I'll take first watch, then Dwalin, then Nori. Just eat some of the dried foods for supper, as I doubt that any of us wish to wait for a soup to be prepared." There were a few mumbles of agreement and then a general movement as the dwarves began setting up their beds.

xXx

"Excuse me, Celia?" Celia looked up from her journal to see Kíli standing there awkwardly.

"Yes, Kíli?" She said uncertainly, wondering why he was standing there.

"I just wanted to say thank you for saving my brother today. And that I will never be able to repay the debt I owe you."

Celia frowned, putting down her pen. "There's no need for thanks, Kíli. I did what anyone would have done."

He shook his head. "Anyone in the Company would have leapt into the water to save him, yes, but what you did... none of us knew how to do that," he insisted. "My brother," he swallowed, eyes glittering slightly with tears, "My brother would have died today if you hadn't been there. So from the bottom of my heart, I thank you." He bowed from the waist, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Please stop," she whispered. "Like I told you earlier, that was my occupation back in our old world. I was just doing what any healer would have done."

Kíli smiled at her. "Maybe. But you did it for my brother, and so I am thanking you for that." He paused. "And Fíli's going to say thank you, too, just to warn you. He's just talking to Elena right now."

Celia craned her head around him to see Fíli sitting next to Elena, heads angled towards each other over her sketch book, talking quietly. "They make a pretty picture," she said softly.

Kíli squinted at her. "What do you mean?"

She smiled to herself and shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing important."

Kíli looked suspiciously at her, but appeared to accept her answer, before another thought struck him. "By the way, I was wondering... why do you and Elena keep giving Bilbo some of your food? He's never asked for it, and you always seem to try and sneak it into his supply without him noticing."

Celia froze in the act of putting her journal away. "Uh, what, what are you talking about?" she stalled.

Kíli raised an eyebrow at her. "I've seen you doing it several times. And once I noticed, I began watching for it. You both do it at least once a day. Why?" Celia hesitated for a minute before dropping her tense shoulders with a sigh and giving in.

"Fine. But you can't tell Bilbo. Or Thorin," she added as an afterthought.

Kíli nodded after a moment's thought. "As long as it does no harm, I agree."

Celia nodded. "It's not like we're taking from the Company's supply or anything. We're just taking some of our food and, well, giving it to Bilbo without him noticing."

"Why?" Kíli asked, keeping his voice down so as to avoid attracting the notice of the others, who were sleeping or talking quietly amongst themselves.

Celia sighed. "Thorin knew that a hobbit would be in his group weeks before Gandalf even stopped by the Shire, and yet he knows almost nothing about them, including their eating habits." She held up a hand to forestall his immediate questions.

"Most Hobbits eat seven meals a day, with snacks in between. Their metabolism is just designed that way, requiring that they eat far more than what a man, or possibly even a dwarf would deem normal. Bilbo only eats three meals a day, for several reasons, but he still has to eat more just to stay healthy. Obviously none of you knew that, so..."

"So you and Elena have been giving him some of yours," Kíli finished when she didn't. She shrugged awkwardly, not looking him in the eyes. Kíli shook his head disgustedly. "I can't believe none of us knew, or even noticed. You and Elena have been getting less then you should just to keep another company member from starving. I have to tell Thorin." He stood up.

"No!" Celia stood up too, grabbing his arm, but lowered her voice when she noticed a few of the dwarves looking their way. "Kíli, I promise. Me and Elena are doing fine. We alternate so that we always get at least one full meal a day."

Kíli shook his head determinedly. "That's not enough. We have enough food to give Bilbo a little extra. Thorin will agree, don't worry." He softened his tone. "I know that he can come across as rude and uncaring at first glance, but he isn't cruel, and once he knows that Bilbo needs more just to stay healthy, I'm sure he'll agree."

Celia sighed. "Fine. But you have to keep it private. I don't want the entire Company knowing."

Kíli crooked a brow. "You do realize that in a group of dwarrow this small, news travels like wildfire, right? I give it a week at most." He laughed as Celia groaned, and headed over to his uncle, sitting down beside him and talking softly.

"So what was that all about?" Elena asked, plopping down besides her sister.

Celia sighed. "He found out that we were helping Bilbo with the food, and now he's talking to Thorin to try and see if he can get more food."

Elena shrugged uncaringly. "Good. Thorin should have known this before he reached the Shire. Maybe now he'll get his head out of the dirt and start noticing things that don't pertain to just his precious quest."

"He's not that bad!" Celia protested.

Elena held two hands up in the air. "Okay. Fine. You're right. He's just a bit ruder to Bilbo than is necessary, and I hate it."

Celia nodded in reluctant agreement. "Yeah. But it should get better before too long. But anyways," she said, looking at her sister coyly. "What were you and Fíli talking about? You looked awfully cozy over there, cuddled up together."

Elena shoved her sister jokingly. "Oh, shut up. We weren't even touching and you know it. And if you must know, we were actually talking about what a cute couple you and Kíli would make."

Celia froze. "No. No, no, no, no, no." She poked a finger at her smirking sister. "We. Are. Just. Friends," she enunciated. "We haven't even know each other for more than a month at most. Just because he's attractive doesn't mean I even like him that way."

"Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that." Her sister said disbelievingly. She leaned in close and whispered, "I ship it." She laughed at the outraged look on Celia's face and darted back to her cot before she could be hit with something.

Celia shook a fist threateningly after her sister. "One day. One day soon, when you least expect it," she promised, laying down and pulling her blankets up to her shoulder. Plotting glorious thoughts of revenge that would most likely never happen, she fell asleep.

xXx

"I'm. So. Booooored," Celia moaned a week later, sitting behind Kíli as they rode over yet another hill.

"Look at it this way, lass. At least it's not raining anymore!" Bofur called from his pony. The rain had finally stopped four days ago, and while they all enjoyed the chance to dry out, they also now had nothing to distract them on their long journey, as the scenery around them was just the rolling plains.

"Yeah, I suppose ," she admitted. "But lately it just seems like there's been nothing but wake up, ride all day, eat supper and go to bed."

"Bilbo and I are having a dagger throwing competition tonight, if you want to watch," Elena called from behind Fíli.

Celia perked up. "Yes! I want to watch that!"

Fíli looked behind him at Elena curiously. "I didn't know that he could throw knives." Elena shrugged. "You never asked. And I did mention it back in the Shire."

"I would like to watch that as well," Kíli added. "I never knew that Mr. Boggins had any knowledge of weaponry."

"Baggins, Kíli. It's Baggins," Celia reminded him.

He shrugged. "But that makes me think. We still don't know a whole lot about each other. And we have nothing else to do. Why not try some sort of game where we have to say some interesting facts about ourselves. It will help pass the time if nothing else."

Elena pretended to think hard for a moment before nodding and saying with a deadpan expression. "Very well. My name is Elena Owens, and I'm somewhere between eighteen and eighty years old. I'm an artist, and that's about it. Oh, and a year and a half ago my sister and I were catapulted into another world. The end."

"That's boring. Why would you share that?" Celia demanded. "We all already knew that."

Fíli chuckled. "Very well, then. What would you say about your sister?"

"Oh, that's easy," Celia declared. "For one thing, Elena is an incredible mimic, and can also throw her voice a short distance."

"What do you mean she can throw her voice?" Kíli asked curiously.

"What do you think it means?" Bofur asked sarcastically. They looked over to see him looking shocked.

"I never said a word!" he protested.

Ori, who had been riding behind them, urged his pony forward. "I've heard of that being done before, by special performers in Erebor. I've never seen one before now, though," he said timidly.

Elena smiled at him. "Well, I'd be glad to demonstrate some more to you some time. My sister has never really appreciated my talents."

Celia snorted. "That's because you always tried to use it to get me in trouble."

Ori smiled shyly. "Actually, I was wondering if I could maybe see some of your art work? Most dwarrow aren't really interested in art, and it would be interesting to see what you've drawn. That is, if you wouldn't mind, Lady Elena," he backtracked hastily.

Elena laughed. "No need to worry about offending me, Master Ori. Much cruder folk than you have tried and failed. However, I do have one condition. If you wish to see my art, please, call me Elena. And the same goes for my sister. I promise she won't mind either."

"She's right," Celia chimed in.

Ori blushed. "All right, if you're sure you won't mind, La - Elena," he said hesitantly.

"Well, now that that's settled, let's continue with the game," Kíli declared cheerfully. "All right, I went, now it's Celia's turn," Elena said with a grin.

Celia rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's see... The one and only time I got stitches was when I ran into a bookcase when I was around fourteen years old in human terms. And not with my head - my foot. I literally had the edge of the bookcase go in between two of my toes and cut it open deep enough that I had to get stitches."

Kíli cracked up, almost doubling over in laughter, which caused Celia to squawk in alarm and clutch his waist tighter. "Careful!" she shrieked. "I don't want to fall off this thing!"

Elena made a show of lifting both hands free of Fíli's waist and waving them in the air. "Cel. Look, no hands," she called, fighting back laughter. Fíli and Bofur were showing no such restraint, and even Ori was hiding a smile.

"I apologize for nearly causing you harm, Lady Celia," Kíli said gravely, sitting up ramrod straight. "I assure you that I have no desire to cause your premature death by falling approximately five feet off of a pony."

Celia glowered at all of them as they burst out laughing. "I hate all of you," she declared, looking like she wanted to cross her arms, but was afraid to let go of Kíli - her only barrier between certain death.

"Oh, come on, sister," Elena coaxed. "Where's your sense of humor?" When she got no response save another glare, a devilish gleam entered her eyes. "Oh, I know another fun fact about Celia. She has an amazing singing voice, but she doesn't want anyone to know, so she always sings really loudly and off-key whenever anyone's around."

Celia stared her sister down. "Keep in mind, sister dearest," she said sweetly, "that I know all the lyrics to your favorite song, 'Let It Go.' Maybe I should remind you what that song is? It's been a while since you last heard it."

Elena swallowed hard. "Maybe we should let Fíli go now," she suggested hastily. "I remember that song very well, and I don't think I need a refresher course."

The dwarrow were eyeing them curiously, but since neither of the girls offered an explanation, Fíli shrugged. "Might as well. Let's see. Celia, you're not alone in the fear department. Kíli's been afraid of birds ever since one dive-bombed him when he was little. So don't let him rag you too hard about it. I still remember his shriek of terror when he came running inside, arms over his head."

Kíli scowled at his older brother. "And when Fíli was little, he thought it would be a great idea to make a cake for Amad. Instead, he ended up with eggs in his hair, and spices all over the floor. After Amad made him clean it all up, he decided that he hated cake. He hasn't eaten it since."

"Dori used to hate tea," Ori piped up. "Then Nori got sick, and would only drink it if Dori agreed to drink a cup for every cup he did, and he started liking it so much that he opened his own tea shop."

"Bífur used to be fluent in four different languages before the accident," Bofur added. "And he can still understand 'em now, he just can't speak 'em." Celia smiled. Already the ride was looking much more interesting.

xXx

"All right, so you promised us a dagger throwing competition?" Fíli asked later that night, once the ponies were settled and they were waiting for supper. Elena nodded.

Bilbo sighed and slowly came up beside her. "I only agreed because you claimed that you were dying of boredom, and that I needed the practice."

"But where are your knives at?" Kíli asked, noticing that none were present.

Elena shrugged. "In my bag. But I decided to just swipe one from Fíli. He has so many, it shouldn't matter if I temporarily borrow one."

Kíli's lips twitched. "Good luck with that. He watches his knives like a -" he cut himself short as Elena pulled a knife out from her tunic.

"Wait. Is that mine?" Fíli asked. Walking over to Elena, he carefully took the knife and studied it. "Oh no," he muttered.

"What?" Elena asked, concerned. "Did I do something wrong?"

Kíli leaned in for a closer look before he started laughing. Leaning over to his brother he whispered something in Khuzdul in a voice choked with laughter that made Fíli turn bright red.

"That's not fair!" he cried in the common tongue. "I was barely fifty when I said that!"

When Kíli shook his head and said something else, he scowled and threw his hands up in the air before walking to his bag in a huff. Pulling out some coins, he tossed them to his brother, then joined his uncle where he was talking to Dwalin, and joined their conversation.

"Did I do something wrong?" Elena asked again uncertainly.

Kíli shook his head, still laughing. "He just lost a bet, that's all. So thank you, beautiful lady, for winning it for me." He bowed, before bending over to pick up the coins.

"I feel like we missed something," Celia whispered.

Elena nodded. "I'm not sure I want to know, though, so I'm just gonna get started." Walking to the appointed throwing line, she pulled one of her own daggers out of a special sheath, drew back her arm, and threw, watching with satisfaction as it spiraled into her target with a solid thud.

* * *

 **A/N: Also, let's just assume that since this is an AU already, the dwarves don't know about CPR in their world. (I have no idea if they do or not in canon, but... for now we'll just say that they don't.) Also, Celia's fact about getting stitches by running into a bookcase, that's a true story. And it happened to me. I very gracefully ran into a bookcase and ended up having to get three stitches for the first time in my life. On my foot. Because I'm talented like that. :/**

 **And yes... I am a firm believer in happily ever afters, and am in denial about quite a few stories where that doesn't happen... and yes, this is one of them. So, don't worry, there will somehow, eventually, be a happy ending. For some of them. Maybe.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to thewolf74 and E for reviewing! Also, this story is now over 2,000 views! Wow! Thank you all so much! :)**

 **Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: If I wrote the books, Thorin would've apologized to Bilbo for his behavior a lot sooner, and all three Durins would have survived, and lived happily ever after annoying the elves.**


	12. Chapter 12 - Who Listens to Wizards?

~~Elena~~

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where'd you get that knife from?" Fíli demanded, striding back over.

Elena shifted her coat to reveal a small sheath sewn into her coat. "My coat. Why?"

"But, but, then why did you steal mine?" he asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Wanted to see if I could do it, I guess. I didn't break some dwarven code of honor, did I?" she asked, only half-jokingly.

"It's fine," Kíli interceded. "Like I said, he's just sore cause he lost a bet, that's all."

"Which shouldn't have even counted, considering how young I was when I said that," Fíli said, glaring at him.

Celia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's continue on with the contest, shall we?" she said, gesturing to where Bilbo was still waiting patiently.

"Yes, lets," Elena said. Nodding to Bilbo, she gestured for him to go.

"Now keep in mind, I haven't been able to practice for a while," Bilbo warned.

"Well, then, we can see what we need to do to get you back into shape," Elena joked.

He rolled his eyes. "I still have better aim then you," he muttered, grabbing a few of his throwing knives from his bag.

"Yeah, that bit's really not fair," Celia complained. "You didn't even know how to throw a knife until we showed you, and yet you still have better aim than Elena, and she's been practicing for several years longer than you have!"

Bilbo shrugged. Shuffling his feet until he was in the proper stance, he sighted and threw the daggers, one after the other until they all thudded into the center of the target. Elena glared at him. Pulling out another one of her daggers, she sighted and threw, watching as it hit close to the center of the target, a short distance away from her previous throw, and the same with the one after that.

Sighing, she muttered, "Guess I'm out of practice too." Glancing at Bilbo, she asked, "Are you all done?"

He nodded. "Let's see how we did after weeks of no practice." Followed by Fíli, Kíli, and a few other of the curious dwarves, they walked up to the target. Two of Bilbo's knives were in the direct center, and one was slightly outside the center, whereas two of Elena's knives were close to the center, and one was on the edge of the target.

She grimaced. Carefully pulling her knives out she muttered, "I guess I'll need to practice more."

"You know, for a halfling, you're not bad at throwing knives," Dwalin said, startling them both.

Tensing at the unintentional insult, Bilbo quickly shook it off and reminded him, "Hobbit, Master Dwalin. We aren't half of anything. And hobbits have always had good aim. It's just part of being a hobbit, I guess."

Dwalin nodded. Turning to Elena, he added, "While you have good technique, there's still more that you could learn to become more proficient. Practice will help, though." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I still want to see your axe-wielding skills. Do you feel up to a bout?"

Elena swallowed nervously. "Uh, I guess? I haven't used those for a while either, so I'm going to be rusty on that, too, just to warn you."

He shrugged. "No matter. We can fix that soon enough. I just want to see your skills, get a grasp of how good you are. Why don't you go fetch them." He nodded towards their bags.

"Uh, sure." Elena said hesitantly, walking to her sleeping area and pulling out the sheath from next to her bag. Carefully unbending the axe from its folded-in position, she stretched it to its full length and snapped it into place. Doing the same to the other one, she handed them to Dwalin. He took them carefully, studying the mechanism that allowed them to be folded in half with interest. "It's supposed to make it easier and safer to carry," Elena explained.

He grunted. "Maybe. But let's see how they work in an actual fight." He handed them back to her. "Right then. Take a fighting stance and run through your basic form, as if you were fighting an opponent," he commanded, standing off to the side and watching as she began her basic run through.

She felt somewhat nervous, knowing that she was being watched by someone who was an expert, but managed to get through her exercise with passable skill. Dwalin nodded slowly once she had finished, then gestured for her to set them in their sheaths off to the side.

"Find some sticks around the same size," he ordered, doing the same for himself. He waited until she had found some that appeared to be roughly the same size and weight as her axes. "Let's see your fighting position," he said gruffly. Raising her sticks to the 'ready' position, she shuffled her feet until they were in the best position for balance and ease of movement. He nodded, readying his sticks.

"Let's see how you do. Take a basic swing at me." He gestured invitingly. Elena frowned uncertainly, but reluctantly decided to comply. She swung slowly at him, only for him to easily dodge the strike, and place his stick at her throat, making her freeze.

"And you're dead." Dwalin drawled. "For crying out loud, if I was an orc, you'd be dead a dozen times over. Fight like you mean it, girl!" Galvanized into action, Elena fell for the age-old trap, and swung again, this time much faster, and immediately following through with a low strike to the side.

Only to find that both times, he dodged her blow, never lifting his sticks in return save to deflect one of her swings, and continued that pattern for the next three minutes. Stepping back, he raised an eyebrow at her and spread his arms wide. Ignoring the little voice in the back of her head telling her not to do it, she sprang forward, barely catching him swiftly stepping to the side out of the corner of her eyes.

And then he did something he hadn't done before. He attacked.

He was a relentless blur of motion, never giving her a chance to recover or attack in return. She stumbled back under the onslaught of blows that never touched her, but left her very aware of just how dead she would be if this were a real fight. He finally stopped, sticks held at both sides of her neck. Eyes locked with hers, he asked, "Do you yield?"

Swallowing, she nodded, dropping her sticks. "I yield," she said. Keeping his eyes on hers, he brought the sticks back to his side and stepped back. Nodding in return, he put his axes back in their sheath, but kept the sticks out, and gestured for her to do the same. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she bent to do so.

After putting them away, Dwalin returned to his starting position. "Now, do you know why I waited until you said you yielded to remove my sticks, and kept my eyes locked on you?" He asked her.

She thought for a moment. "I think I read somewhere that it's to prevent an accident in case one person thinks the fight is over, and their opponent doesn't, and tries to get in one last swing." she said uncertainly.

He looked pleased. "Good. That's exactly it. It took Fíli and Kíli almost a month to get it down," he said, eyeing the brothers from where they had been watching the lesson a few yards away. "Whenever you're in a fight, whether it's for training or actual combat, never let down your guard until you know for sure that the fight is finished - and your opponent knows it as well," he warned her. "Otherwise you can get in lot of trouble." Elena nodded.

"Now, you did pretty good for a beginner, but I'm guessing you've never done any actual fighting with those?" Elena shook her head, all too aware of how she had done. "Right then. I had you use your axes at first, because I wanted to see your style, and how you carried them, but for now, I'm going to have you use these sticks, for everyone's safety. I'm going to start off with the footwork. Assume the position you had at the beginning of the session," he ordered.

xXx

Elena collapsed down next to Celia, and a grinning Fill and Kíli. "That. Was. Exhausting," she panted. Grabbing her water skin, she took several large swigs from it until her thirst was satisfied.

"Dwalin's the best teacher you could have," Fíli told her. "But you'll ache the entire time."

Elena nodded. "I believe you," she said wryly.

Kíli laughed. "At least you did better than me. And my first lesson was with a sword, which is easier to learn than two axes. Why'd you decide on axes anyways?" He asked.

Elena shrugged. "I don't know. But ever since I was little, I've always liked the axes over other weapons in games, and stuff like that." She chuckled. "Maybe it was just my dwarven roots showing?"

Fíli shrugged. "Possibly. Or maybe you saw it as a child in your family, and that was all you remembered, and it influenced your weapon of choice?"

Elena shrugged again. "That's possible, but that doesn't explain why Celia chose archery. I mean, from what I understand, that's not exactly a, uh, popular skill set among dwarrow."

Kíli frowned. "No. It's a fairly uncommon weapon, unfortunately. It's usually seen as too elvish for anyone not naturally talented, or one of the nobility, to try it, so I'm one of the few who's both." He brightened. "But that's okay. Fíli's the heir to the throne, not me. So Fíli's the one with all the pressure to be perfect anyways. Not that it ever stopped him from dumping a bucket of honey onto an annoying courtier's head." He jumped to his feet and darted away, laughing, as Fíli ran after him, threatening to shove his head into a bucket of honey.

"Speaking of food, I'm hungry," Celia complained. "Do you think supper will be ready soon?"

Just then, Bofur called out, "Food's ready!"

"How about now?" Elena joked, hurrying to grab her bowl and get in line.

After that, everyone was too hungry to talk much, so supper was a quiet affair. And then, when the bedding was set up, Celia asked Elena to help her comb through the tangled mess that was her hair. After sitting down and taking out the two-day old braid, Elena carefully began brushing through the tangles, using an old comb she had brought from Bag End.

"Have you noticed that the scenery around us looks a lot like the scene in the films where Balin talks about Thorin's past, and the big battle to reclaim Moria?" She whispered. Celia's eyes widened. Carefully looking around so as to not jerk her hair out of Elena's hands, she thought for a minute before minutely shaking her head.

Keeping her voice low, she responded, "I don't think so. It looks similar, but we're not on a ledge, or by a cliff wall, or anything, like I think they were in the film. It'll probably be soon, though."

Elena thought about it while combing through a particularly bad snarl. "I forgot about the part where they were near a ledge, or something," she admitted. "Sheesh!" she said louder, as the comb snagged on the tangle. "When was the last time you brushed your hair?"

Celia shrugged. "I don't know. Yesterday? The day before? I didn't really feel like dealing with it last night, so I just left the braid in and slept with it in."

Elena snorted. "Well, you might want to consider brushing it out every night, unless you want to deal with snarls like this all the time. Or, you know, you could just cut it short like mine." She hinted, looking down at her shoulder length brown locks. "It's way easier to take care of, and it's a lot cooler."

Celia wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, but you can't do much with hair as short as yours. It's kind of boring," she teased.

Elena swatted her on the back of the head with the comb. "I can do plenty with it. Like only take a minute to brush through it, and not require my sister's help with it."

Celia snorted. "You're just jealous that I can make a weapon out of my hair."

Elena stopped combing. "Do what now?" she said flatly.

"Make a weapon out of it," Celia repeated smugly. "I know that jerks love to pull long hair, but all you have to do is braid some spikes into it, maybe put some poison on the spikes, and then anyone who tries to grab your hair will stab themselves."

Elena finished combing and swiftly put Celia's hair into neat french braid. "Right. And do you have any spikes?" she asked skeptically.

Celia deflated. "Not yet. But I could probably make some soon, or ask somebody to make them for me." She lowered her voice again. "Like at a certain haven up ahead."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Right. Let me know how that turns out for you."

Thorin's voice interrupted them. "Balin, you take first watch. I'll take second, and Glóin can take third. The rest of you, get some sleep. We're starting out early tomorrow."

"When have we not?" Celia grumbled half-heartedly. "Thanks for doing my hair, El."

"No problem," her sister grinned, returning the comb and going to her bed.

xXx

The next night was uneventful, as was the night after that. The third day, however, when they set up camp near the edge of a cliff, Elena instantly recognized it as the scene from the first movie. A quick glance at her sister showed that she knew where they were too. Feeling tense with anticipation, Elena didn't fall asleep when the others did, but remained quietly talking to Celia under their blankets as Fíli and Kíli took the first watch.

"I don't like sleeping under these trees," Celia grumbled. "I keep feeling afraid that a spider's going to drop out of nowhere and fall on my face."

Elena bit back a smile. "Just because you saw a big spider when you were little, doesn't mean that every single spider is out to get you, you know."

Celia glared at her sister. "I know that," she hissed quietly. "But I also know what I saw. And I saw a spider that was bigger than me, and it tried to eat me!"

"Sure. Whatever you say." Elena said soothingly.

Celia drew breath to make a retort, but stopped suddenly when she was distracted by something else. "Are there... _flies_ coming out of Bombur's mouth?" she asked incredulously.

Elena glanced over at Bombur, and sure enough, he sucked in a mouthful of flies with every inhale, and then blew them back out with every exhale.

"That's disgusting," she said with a choked laugh. A rustling nearby drew their attention as Bilbo quietly got up from his cot and walked over to the ponies. "What's he doing?" she whispered.

"I think he's giving an apple to Myrtle, or something," Celia responded. A sudden shrill scream made them both sit bolt upright on their beds, reaching a hand for their weapons.

Bilbo's eyes grew wide and he quickly put a hand to where his daggers would be, but he had taken them off to sleep. "What was that?" he asked Fíli and Kíli worriedly.

"Orcs." Kíli said, looking around them, eyes searching. Another scream, louder than before. Glancing around nervously, Elena saw that Thorin was now awake.

"Orcs?" Bilbo asked uncertainly.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fíli said, voice low.

Kíli joined in. "They strike in the wee small hours of the night. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood."

"Sound a lot like wolves," Bilbo muttered, looking away. Apparently not hearing his statement, Fíli and Kíli look at each other and began laughing, only for Kíli to stop suddenly as Celia threw a nut she found nearby at his head.

"Ow!" He cried. "What was that for?" Celia didn't have a chance to answer him as Thorin began berating them first.

"You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

"We didn't mean anything by it," Kíli said defensively.

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world," Thorin said dismissively, striding off towards the edge of the cliff and looking to the land beyond.

Balin, who was still awake, walked up to the humbled pair. "Don't mind him, lads. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first."

The boys sat up straighter as Balin began weaving the tale of the horrific battle. "Moria had been taken by legions of orcs lead by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing; taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the pale stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent... wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield."

Elena saw others of the company waking up and listening wide-eyed to his story. "Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken," Balin said proudly. "Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King," he finished solemnly. Thorin turned around, hair blowing majestically in the wind, and saw the entire Company was awake and watching him.

"But the pale orc?" Bilbo asked solemnly. "What happened to him?"

Thorin growled, crouching by the fire. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago," he snarled.

Elena and Celia looked at each other knowingly. Elena leaned over and whispered, "Isn't he actually watching us right now?"

Celia nodded. "I think so. Should we tell Thorin?"

Elena thought about it for a minute. "I don't know. Maybe we should tell Gandalf first, and see what he thinks?"

Celia nodded. "Yeah. But I don't think we can do it tonight. Everybody's kind of awake and antsy. Let's get some sleep, and then see if we can catch him in the morning."

"Okay," Elena agreed, yawning. "I'm really tired anyways." Laying down, she closed her eyes and muttered sleepily, "We should probably rest while we can, at any rate. We'll be running for our lives soon."

"Sounds like a normal day to me," Celia grumbled, before falling asleep.

The next day they didn't have a chance to talk to Gandalf, however, as Thorin cornered them before they could. "I wish to speak with you about last night," he said gruffly.

The girls exchanged glances. "All right. What did you want to talk about?" Celia asked.

Thorin stared calmly at both of them. "I saw the glances you shared between yourselves when I spoke of Azog the Defiler being dead. Those glances spoke of knowledge. I know that I asked you to keep your knowledge of our future to yourselves, but I must know: is Azog the Defiler dead?"

Elena hesitated, biting her lip before answering. "No. At least, we don't believe so. The way everything has been happening points to him being alive. He's got a claw instead of an arm, but he's alive, and following us right now."

Thorin's eyes widened with alarm. "He's following us? Now?"

Elena waved a hand in the air vaguely. "Sort of. They don't catch up for a while, until we're further away from here. But they will catch up eventually."

Thorin breathed deeply, then nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I ask that you tell no one else of your knowledge yet." Turning around, he bellowed and order. "Everybody mount up! We need to cover as much ground by nightfall as possible!"

The camp activity, which had been relatively slow paced due to the early morning hours, increased quickly. Hurriedly packing their bags, and grabbing some breakfast to eat on the road, they mounted the ponies and set out on the trail, riding down the cliff and back into the woods.

"I wonder what got Uncle into such a hurry," Kíli mused as they rode.

Celia shrugged, making sure not to dislodge her grip on the only thing between her and a fall to certain death off the pony. "I couldn't say. Maybe he was concerned about the orcs last night?"

"Speaking of, what was that all about, throwing a nut at my head?" Kíli asked, still wounded.

Celia snorted. "As if you don't know. Take a guess."

"She's mad at you for teasing Bilbo," Elena called. "I am, too, and don't think you're off the hook for it either, Fíli," she said, poking him in the back. "That was kind of an inconsiderate subject to tease anyone with, let alone Bilbo."

"Yes, I apologize for that. That was fairly foolish of us," Fíli admitted.

"I apologize as well," Kíli said. "We'll apologize to him later today."

Elena nodded, satisfied. "Thank you. Now, does anyone have any ideas on how to pass the time?"

Celia laughed. "We could play, 'Guess what we're having for lunch today'?"

Kíli snorted. "I believe that I would win. My guess is, "Bread and cold meat, while traveling."

"Sounds right to me," Fíli said. "Kíli wins the prize."

"But that's hardly fair! That's the exact same thing we've been having for lunch for the last four weeks!" Elena complained.

Kíli shrugged. "It's not my fault that I was able to guess it before you."

Celia raised one hand, still keeping one hand anchored on Kíli. "Hey, it's all right. We'll just have to wait and see if Kíli's right at lunchtime. And if he's wrong, we'll feed him to a grizzly bear."

"I'm in," Fíli grinned, ignoring his brother's protests. "Buuut, now that _that_ most interesting game is over with, what do we do next?"

Celia shrugged. "I don't know. I did my part. Now it's your turn."

"Fine. Where are we going to camp tonight?" Fíli asked. "Winner gets two coins each from the rest of the players."

Celia thought for a minute. "My money's on the woods."

"I'll take the open plains for twenty," Elena drawled.

"I think these woods can't go on forever, so I will guess that we'll be camping in the plains tonight, as well," Kíli said.

Fíli nodded his head. "You make a good point. I'll go with that as well."

Celia sighed, sagging her head until it rested against Kíli's back. "I give up. We're just gonna be bored until we reach Erebor, and we'll all be placing bets on what type of clouds we'll see swirling over the top of the mountain. Except I won't be there, 'cause I'll have died from boredom."

"Cheer up, Cel," her sister grinned. "We'll probably be running for our lives from some horrible creature soon, and then you'll be wishing you were back here being bored."

"No, I won't," Celia groused. "I'll be dead, because I'll have been eaten by some horrible monster."

There was a pause. "If you die, then, can I have your books?"

Celia slowly turned her head to glare at her sister, ignoring Kíli's stifled laughter. "No," she enunciated slowly. "And they're all back at Bag End anyways, so good luck getting them."

"Elena, does your bracelet mean anything?" Fíli interrupted their friendly bickering. "I noticed that you and Celia both have them, and they have the same ruins on them. Do they mean something?"

"Sort of," Elena said, looking at the bracelet that she had worn since the day she got it. "Bilbo got them for us on our birthday. The ruins are in old hobbitish, and basically signify that he's adopted us into his family. We did something similar for his birthday a few months later."

"So two dwarrowdams and a hobbit adopted each other... Now there's something you don't hear about every day," Fíli joked.

Elena shrugged. "It's not something you hear about a lot in general. Back home there were lots of kids in orphanages and children's homes, and the like. Most of us didn't get adopted. Then there was this fire, and suddenly every one felt sorry for us, and nearly every one of us got adopted." She laughed. "I guess it just goes to show that good things can come from just about any place. You just have to look for it, sometimes."

xXx

Three days later of nothing happening, and even Elena was ready to concede that she was bored. And then Thorin had the bright idea to camp at an abandoned - ruined - farmhouse.

"We'll camp here for the night. Fíli, Kíli, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them," he ordered. Sliding down from the ponies, the boys helped the girls off their ponies and quickly led them over to the others. Recognizing immediately where they were at, the sisters exchanged a nervous glance.

"A farmer and his family used to live here," Gandalf mused.

Ignoring him, Thorin said, "Óin, Glóin, get a fire going."

"Right you are," Glóin agreed, pulling out his fire-starting kit.

"Thorin," Gandalf tried to intercede. "I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley."

Thorin scowled. "I have told you already. I will not go near that place."

Listening quietly from where they were setting up their packs, Elena rolled her eyes. "He's too stubborn!" she hissed to her sister, who nodded in unhappy agreement.

"Why not?" Gandalf tried to reason with him. "The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice."

Thorin glared at him. "I do not need their advice."

Celia, who had perked up at the mention of food, hunched over again, glaring petulantly at the stubborn leader.

"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us." Gandalf told him angrily.

Thorin scoffed. "Help? A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father."

"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past." Gandalf warned.

Thorin raised his eyebrows. "I did not know that they were yours to keep." Gandalf furrowed his brows and stomped off angrily.

"Is everything all right?" Bilbo asked nervously. "Gandalf, where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense!" He fumed.

"And, and who's that?" Bilbo stuttered.

"Myself, Mister Baggins!" Gandalf thundered. "I've had enough of dwarves for one day." Watching him get onto his horse and ride off, the girls watched him ride off. Sighing, Elena went back to sorting the bags.

A few minutes later, Thorin came up to them. "You looked concerned when we arrived here," he said in a low voice. "And you both keep looking over your shoulders into the woods. What do you know of this place?"

Trying not to glare, though she probably didn't succeed, Elena replied, "I know that it's too late to do anything now. Events have already been set in motion, and neither of us can stop them. All I can say is that this is one of the events that we told you about, where things will get worse before they get better. Just keep your sword handy, and your ears open."

Nodding, Thorin said gravely, "Aye. I remember what you said. Thank you for warning me." Turning around, he called Dwalin over and said, "No one leaves this place alone. There must always be at least two of us in a group."

"Is there something you know that we don't?" Dwalin asked, eyeing the woods around him.

"I'm not sure," Thorin answered honestly. "But I feel a danger to these woods. Keep your weapon handy."

"Aye," Dwalin nodded, passing the message along to the others. Forcing themselves to remain calm, the girls offered to help Bombur with the cooking, and were eagerly accepted. Soon the delicious smell of soup filled the campsite.

"It tastes delicious, Master Bombur," Celia said, after tasting her first spoonful. The cook smiled shyly.

Elena took a sip of her own. "It really does. Do you think you could teach me a few tips sometime?" Bombur nodded bashfully.

"He's been a long time," Bilbo fretted.

"Who has?" Bofur asked, ladling out some soup for Bífur and Dori, the last in line.

"Gandalf!"

"He's a wizard," Bofur said dismissively. "He does as he chooses. Here, do us a favor: take this to the lads." Holding out two hot bowlfuls of soup, he handed them to Bilbo and watched him hurry off towards the ponies. Taking advantage of the distraction, Bombur tried to grab another bowlful.

Smacking his hand, Bofur told him, "Stop it. You've had plenty."

Elena laughed, hurriedly finishing her soup and rinsing out the bowl. Rising to put it back in her pack, she felt her heart drop. "Uh-oh."

"What is it?" Celia asked, putting her own bowl away.

"Bilbo forgot his knives," she said, pointing to Bilbo's sheath which lay poking out of his bag.

"Oh," Celia said, her own expression falling. "I don't - what should we do?" she asked uncertainly.

Elena shrugged unhappily, biting her lip. "I don't know."

"Trolls!" Fíli shouted, running into the campsite. "They've got the ponies, and Bilbo!" Everyone in the Company immediately dropped what they were doing and grabbed their weapons.

"Where's your brother?" Thorin demanded immediately.

"He went after Bilbo," Fíli panted, "Just in case something happened. Then I came here to get you."

"Bofur, stay with the girls. Don't come after us," Thorin ordered. "The rest of you, with me!" Leading the charge out of the campsite, the Company quickly disappeared into the woods.

Left alone, Elena and Celia quickly began packing up their things. Bofur stood there uncertainly, hefting his mattock over his shoulder. "And what are ye lasses doin', if you don't mind me asking?" he said at last.

"Packing up. I doubt we'll be staying here long," Elena said.

"You know, you can go after them," Celia said casually. "We have our weapons to defend ourselves if need be, and we can just hide out in a tree until you guys get back."

Bofur hesitated for a minute, but then shook his head stoutly. "I'm afraid I can't do that, lassie. I can't just leave ye alone in the middle of the wilderness." Vague shouts and what sounded like a tree crashing made him look anxiously over towards the scene of what was evidently a fight.

"We'll be fine," Celia coaxed. "I have my arrows, and Elena has her daggers _and_ her axes. We'll just climb one of these trees and keep an eye out until the Company comes back. And from the sound of things, they could really use your help."

Bofur hesitated. "You'll stay right here?"

"We'll be plenty safe in the trees," Celia promised vaguely.

"Well, all right," he said reluctantly. "But you don't come after me, got it?"

They both nodded. "I'm just gonna go check things out," he said. "You stay in the trees until I get back." When they nodded again, he took off for the edge of the campsite. He turned around again at the edge, but they urged him on, and he quickly disappeared into the woods.

Elena turned to her sister. "All right, Sherlock. So we'll stay safe in the trees. Now what?"

Celia grinned fiercely, slinging her quiver onto her back next to her bow, and strapping a few daggers onto her belt. Handing her sister her axes and knives, she laughed. "Now, we fight."

* * *

 **A/N: Please be aware that I have never used an axe, nor have I ever been in a fight involving one (thank goodness). So please bear with any mistakes that I might (and most likely did) make. :/**

 **Huge thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed! And special shout-out to E for reviewing! It's always nice to see what people think. I know that there wasn't much that happened this chapter, but that should change soon. ;)**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: The only thing I know for certain in elvish is how to say "Go kiss an orc."**


	13. Chapter 13 - A Test of Courage

~~Celia~~

"Okay. So what's the plan?" Elena asked, keeping her voice low. "There's no way we can take on three trolls by ourselves, and even if we did manage to take them down, Bilbo would still kill us for putting ourselves in danger like that."

Celia snorted. "I wasn't suggesting that we fight them in the open. That would be suicide. No, we have to fight with more than just brawn - we have to use our brains," she emphasized, tapping her skull with a finger.

"We know that the trolls turn to stone in sunlight, right?" she asked, waiting for her sister to nod. Once she did, she continued. "So we just go and find ourselves a good hiding spot in the trees, and make sure that they survive until dawn. If it looks like one of the dwarves is going to be eaten, we distract them."

"Okay. Sounds reasonable enough," Elena said skeptically. "But how exactly, are we going to distract them, oh smart one? If you shoot them, they'll know that someone's out there for sure, and come get us both."

Celia shook her head in exasperation. "No, you're not getting it. We're not going to use our weapons unless we have to. But you can mimic voices. Remember how in the book, Gandalf copied their voices to get them arguing amongst themselves? You could do that, if it comes down to it."

Elena chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Maybe. But in the movies, Bilbo distracted them long enough for them to escape, too. Who's to say that he won't do that now?"

Celia sighed. "I don't know. Maybe he will. But maybe he won't. Events so far seem to have been following a crazy mix of book and movie. And I think it's safe to say that things have changed because of us being here, too. Didn't we come along, just to try and change things? And either way, wouldn't it be good for them to have some backup, just in case? And once we see that they're safe, we can hightail it back here, and hide out in a tree until they come back," she argued.

Elena sighed. "Fine. But you'll have to find something else to throw at them, if it comes down to it. Only use your arrows if you absolutely have to, otherwise they'll know you're out there."

Celia nodded. "I think Ori has an extra slingshot in his bag, I could probably use that if I had to," she said thoughtfully.

"All right. So the plan is, find a good spot in the trees, and keep an eye on things. If it looks like something's going to happen, I'll mimic their voices, and try to start a fight. You can hit them with a rock here and there, but don't go overboard," Elena warned.

Celia nodded, glancing over Ori's sleeping area - hoping to find the slingshot without having to go through his items - and triumphantly pulled out a slingshot from underneath his blankets. Gathering a few rocks, she tucked them into a bag at her waist, and hurried back to her sister.

"All right. Let's go," she said.

Elena nodded, face drawn and serious. Making sure that their weapons were secure, they set out into the woods towards the flickering light in the distance, Celia scooping up several large rocks along the way. Crouching low to the ground, they soon came upon three trolls gathered around a large pot in a clearing, and several of the dwarves tied to a large log over a roasting fire, and the rest of the Company tied up in bags over to the side of the clearing.

"Look, over there. There's a good spot for you to hide," Elena whispered, pointing to a large tree. "And I can hide in the next one over. Soon as they start to turn to stone, we get out of here, got it?"

Celia nodded somberly, climbing the aforementioned tree swiftly and quietly. After ensuring she was hidden by branches from clear view, she turned to find her sister in an adjacent tree, also hidden by branches. Crouching close to the tree, she held her breath and tried to hear what they were saying.

"Don't bother cooking them. Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly," one of the trolls whined.

"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage," the other one growled.

"Ooh, that does sound quite nice, Bert," the original complimented.

"Never mind the seasoning; we ain't got all night! Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone," the third troll growled. Elena drew in a breath, waiting anxiously for Bilbo to catch on.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!" he called suddenly, hopping to his feet in the bag.

"You can't reason with them, they're half wits!" Dori called from where he was dangling over the fire.

"Half wits? What does that make us?" Bofur objected.

Bilbo ignored them. "Uh, I meant with the, uh, with, uh, with the seasoning," he stammered.

"What about the seasoning?" Bert growled.

"Well have you smelled them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up," Bilbo commented.

Celia rolled her eyes as the dwarves instantly broke out into outraged cries of "Traitor!" She narrowed her eyes as she saw one of them try to kick him. Noting who it was, she marked them down for revenge later, and turned her attention back to the trolls.

"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" the third troll demanded.

"Shut up, and let the, uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk, Tom," Bert ordered.

"Uh, th- the secret to cooking dwarf is, um ," Bilbo stammered, trying desperately to think.

"Yes? Come on," Bert said impatiently.

"It's uh, uh,"

"Well? Tell us the secret!" The troll asked again.

"Ye- yes, I'm telling you, the secret is ... to skin them first!" Bilbo blurted out.

"Tom, get me filleting knife," Bert ordered, ignoring how the dwarves were once again outraged at Bilbo's claims, and were all threatening revenge. Celia rolled her eyes, now firmly convinced that they were all idiots.

"What a load of rubbish! I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all," Tom declared.

"'e's right! Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy," the third troll, who Celia vaguely recalled was named William, proclaimed, grabbing Bombur and dangling the poor, terrified dwarf over his mouth. Scanning the woods for Gandalf, or any sign of daylight, Celia bit her lip at the lack of either.

Glancing over at the dwarves by the woods, she noticed Kíli whispering something to his uncle, a worried look on his face and staring at the woods behind them. Seeing them both look anxiously over at the woods, she stared behind her for a moment, worried that something was coming up behind them. A shout from Bilbo distracted her again.

"Not- not that one, he- he's infected!" Bilbo exclaimed desperately.

"You what?" Tom asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, he's got... worms... in his... tubes," Bilbo said weakly, making William drop Bombur onto the rest of the dwarves, making them groan at his weight. "In- in fact they all have, they're in infested with parasites. It's a terrible business; I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't," Bilbo warned.

"Parasites, did he say parasites?" Óin asked disbelievingly.

"We don't have parasites! You have parasites!" Kíli shouted.

Celia hit her forehead in unbelief. Looking at her sister, she mouthed, "They're all idiots!"

Her sister nodded in exasperation. Thankfully, Thorin finally caught on, and kicked Kíli in the head, making him realize what Bilbo was doing. There was a brief pause before they all began talking at once.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!" Óin blustered.

"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" Kíli shouted.

"We're riddled!" Nori claimed, his brother chiming in to agree with him.

"What would you have us do, then, let 'em all go?" Tom demanded.

"Well," Bilbo started, only to stagger backwards as Tom poked him hard in the shoulder.

"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!" he shouted. Bilbo stammered, trying to explain, but Tom was having none of it. Looking around desperately for Gandalf, Celia looked at her sister helplessly. She mouthed something at her.

Celia furrowed her brow. "What?" she mouthed back.

"Distraction" Elena mouthed again.

"Oh," Celia realized. Pulling out the slingshot and a large rock, she quickly aimed at William and let go, watching in satisfaction as it smacked him in the back of the head with a thud.

"What was that?" he shouted, rubbing the back of his head. "Who 'it me?" he demanded.

"Oh, stop yer whinin'," Tom ordered.

"Easy for you to say," William complained. "You ain't got a bump on the back of yer head." Grabbing another rock, Celia aimed, and released, this time smacking Bert in the head, a bit off target, but still nice and painful-sounding.

"Who 'it me?" he shouted, rounding on William. "Was it you?" he demanded, shaking his fist threateningly.

"No! You 'it me!" William shouted back.

"I did not" Bert defended himself, raising his hand to hit William.

Celia quickly pulled out another rock and aimed it at Tom, releasing it and biting her lip nervously. He rounded on the on the other two angrily, hitting Bert on top of his head with the stirring spoon.

"What was that for?" Bert whined, rubbing his head.

"Leave me out of yer fights," Tom ordered, turning back to his soup. Quickly aiming at Tom again, Celia released it and gestured for her sister to carry it on.

"That's for 'itting me!" Bert's voice shouted at him, starting another round of fighting, Elena or Celia starting the fighting anew every time it started to slow. Celia cast anxious glances at the horizon for any sign of the sun all the while, silently praying for the sun to rise quickly.

"That's enough," Tom declared at last as the horizon started to turn a lighter shade of blue. He turned back around, just as Celia hit William again with a stone, making her freeze in hopes that he hadn't seen her shoot the rock, but he said nothing about it, though William complained and grumbled. "Mornin'll be comin' soon, and I want to eat. Let's just cook 'em and be done with it," he growled.

"I think we should eat 'em raw," William's voice complained.

"Shut up, William," Tom ordered.

"I didn't say nothin!" William protested, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I think we should fillet them," Bert's voice objected.

"I didn't ask you," Tom said angrily. "It's getting too close to dawn. Let's just take 'em back to the cave and finish with 'em tomorrow."

"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf's voice struck the clearing with a power-filled presence, as the wizard climbing on top of a rock ledge, finally showing up.

"Who's that?" Bert asked.

"No idea," Tom answered, looking at him cautiously.

"Can we eat 'im too?" William asked.

Gandalf struck the rock with his staff, splitting it in two, and causing the first rays of sunlight from the early morning hours to fall upon the trolls, turning them to stone.

"Psst!" Elena hissed at Celia, catching her attention. When she looked over, her sister beckoned furiously and pointed to the ground. "We need to go!" she mouthed.

Nodding, Celia quickly slid down the tree, and met her sister at the bottom. Keeping low to the ground, they quickly made their way back to the campground. After returning Ori's slingshot to its original spot, Celia regrouped with her sister by the trees on the other side of the abandoned house.

"All right, now what should we do?" she whispered.

Elena shrugged. "I don't know. Climb a tree and keep an eye out? The Company will have to come back at some point for their bags, and -" she lowered her voice again, "the orcs will be here soon. At least in the trees we'll have a chance of seeing them first, if they come before the dwarves do. It'll give us a fighting chance."

Celia swallowed hard, looking up at the towering tree above them. "Okay, but how? All the branches are too high up for us to climb."

"Maybe we can boost each other up?" Elena suggested.

"Why not?" Celia agreed. Crouching by the base of the tree, she held her hands together to form a platform for her sister to step onto. Carefully placing her foot onto the platform, Elena made sure that her sister's position was secure.

"You okay?" she asked.

Celia nodded. "Just hurry," she muttered, glancing nervously at the woods around them.

"All right. Let's do this," Elena said. Drawing a breath, she put all her weight on her foot on the ground, then pushed off right as her sister pushed up with all her strength, giving Elena an extra boost into the air as she reached for the closest branch. Grabbing a secure hold, she carefully pulled herself up, then switched so that she was hanging by her knees, and reached down for her sister.

Clutching her sister's hands, Elena struggled to pull herself back up to the branch as her stomach muscles began to burn. "What. Have you been. Eating?" she groaned, trying to get close enough for Celia to grab it.

"Less than you," Celia retorted, stretching for the branch.

Finally able to get secure, Elena let out a breath of relief. "Whew. Let's never do that again, please," she said wearily.

Celia grinned tiredly. "Deal. If it's any consolation, you're extremely strong. Neither of us would have been able to do that back home. I think turning into dwarves increased our strength as well. But we should probably climb higher. We're still kind of obvious here."

Her sister nodded in agreement. Climbing several yards higher, they were soon hidden from the ground by multiple leafy branches. Sliding her bow off her back, Celia drew an arrow and laid it on the drawstring. Trying to look at the clearing outside, she asked nervously, "Do you really think that the orcs could find us first?"

Elena shifted uncomfortably. "It's not likely, but it is possible," she admitted at last. "We know that they're hunting the Company, and we are a ways away. But I'm sure we'll be fine," she tried to add comfortingly.

Celia smiled disbelievingly. "Fine is relative," she said softly. "Because even if the Company does find us first, they'll still be attacked by the orcs later on. And we'll be with them."

"Well aren't you a regular bucket of sunshine," Elena said drily.

Celia gave an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry," she whispered. "My nerves are kind of shot right now."

"I think all of ours are," her twin responded. "Wait. Did you hear that?" she breathed. "That rustling?"

"Where?" Celia demanded, lifting her bow.

"Over by where we came out from," Elena answered quietly, pointing to the direction slightly away from where the trolls had been.

Raising her bow, Celia aimed at the rustling bushes, heart beating rapidly. Drawing it back, she drew in a deep breath, only to release it again, and relax the bowstring as Fíli and Kíli burst out of the bushes.

"Elena? Celia!" they called in a low voice, worried expressions on their faces.

"Over here!" Celia called, replacing her arrow in her quiver, and sliding her bow back onto her back. "In the trees," she added, seeing them look around for the source of the voice. Climbing back down, they saw the brothers waiting for them as they reached the bottom branch.

"How did you get up there?" Kíli asked incredulously. "It's got to be at least twice your height."

Celia chuckled, shifting her hold and getting ready to get down. "Sister power. We boosted each other up. Now, you might want to back up, this probably isn't going to be a graceful landi-whoAAH!" Her words ended in a startled scream as, in her preparations to jump down from the branch, her feet slipped and sent her towards the ground.

Only to land safely in a pair of strong arms. Cracking open one eye, Celia saw the highly amused and slightly concerned face of Kíli looking down at her.

"Well, you were right about one thing," he remarked. "That was definitely not a graceful landing."

"Celia! Are you all right?" Elena demanded, looking her over for injuries.

"I'm fine, thanks to Kíli," she said dismissively once her heart dropped from her throat back to her chest. "Thanks, by the way," she added.

Kíli smirked, carefully setting her on the ground. "Of course. Saving damsels in distress is what I do on a daily basis." Celia rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Well, I'm not in distress, but I would appreciate a helping hand, as I really don't want to slip and fall like Celia did," Elena called from the tree. "I'm not as used to shedding my dignity as she is."

Fíli laughed and strode over beneath her. "I'm afraid that my brother's quota of catching damsels is full for the day, but I would be glad to be of assistance, my lady," he said with a bow.

Elena snorted. "I wish I could believe that. What do you want me to do? Jump into your arms, or fall as gracefully as my sister did?"

Fíli grinned. "Just letting yourself fall would be fine. The scream is optional."

"Oh, shut up," Celia grumbled, fighting a smile.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Are you ready?" she called to Fíli.

He grinned, holding his arms out wide. "Whenever you are, my lady." She raised an eyebrow at him before rolling off the branch to make it easier for Fíli to catch her. Catching her with ease, he set her on the ground as she shook her head to clear it.

"Well, that certainly gets your blood racing," she remarked. Turning back to the boys, she added, "But next time, I think you guys should be the ones to fling yourselves from the trees."

"You'll have no arguments from me, my lady," Fíli said with a grin. "We have plenty of practice at that. But for now, we should gather up the bags and return to the clearing. They were looking for the troll hoard, but Uncle sent us back here to bring you over there. The trolls are gone, by the way. Turned to stone by the light of day."

"Well, that's a relief", Elena said innocently. "We were rather worried."

Kíli shot a look at her, but said nothing, filling and gathering up the bags lying scattered around the campsite. After grabbing all the bags, the brothers led the girls to the clearing, where they saw the three trolls frozen in the middle.

"Wow," Celia breathed, looking at them eagerly. "They're even bigger up close! Although, what is that smell?" she asked, gagging.

"That would be the troll hoard," Fíli informed her matter-of-factly. "It's just up this way," he said, gesturing up the hill, where a fair amount of noise was coming from.

As they walked up the hill, they saw a cave set in the hill, from which the smell was undeniably coming from, along with Bofur, covered in a fair bit of dirt. "Ah, lasses, it's good to see you both safe," he drawled. "I was beginning to worry about you."

Celia grinned. "Nope. I told you, we were gonna stay safe in the trees. And we did, until Fíli and Kíli came along and brought us back," she said cheerfully, as the boys made their excuses and went to talk to their uncle, setting the bags down next to them as Bífur wandered up to them, making a bewildering series of hand designs.

Looking at Bofur for translations, he grinned mischievously and complied. "He says thank you for your help with the trolls."

The girls exchanged glances. "What do you mean?" Elena asked slowly. "We weren't there with you, remember?"

Bífur made a few more hand gestures, shaking his head a few times. Bofur translated again. "He says that he was watching the trolls, and he heard them speak when they didn't, and remembered that Miss Elena here has a bit of a knack for voices. Seemed she mentioned it a while back, and he remembered it today." Bífur signed again. "And he knows that the trolls weren't hitting each other, neither," he added. "So he's just trying to thank you both, and say you did a good job. And so am I."

"Well, then, I guess you're both welcome?" Celia said uncertainly. "Can you tell him that?"

"Course!" Bofur said cheerfully. "But you can tell him yourselves, if you want."

"Really?" Elena asked in surprise.

Bofur nodded. "He understands Common as well as the rest of us, he just can't speak it," he reminded them. "But if you want to tell him in Iglishmêk, just point, then cross your hand here, then point up, holding it like this," he said, demonstrating.

Looking at Bofur, she practiced it slowly, then turned and repeated it for Bífur, Celia copying it after her. Bífur beamed, making a few more gestures in response, and grunting in Khuzdul.

"He says you do it very well, for someone who's never done it before, and offered to teach it to you," Bofur informed them.

"But I thought that it was a secret, or something. Are you sure that it'd be okay?" Celia asked uncertainly.

Bofur shrugged. "I don't see why not. You're both dwarrowdams, and there'd be no finer teacher, although you'd require my help, of course."

Celia looked at her sister, who made a 'why not?' gesture, before saying, "Well, if you think it'd be okay, and if you're all right with helping us, then sure. We'd love the chance to try and learn that."

"Great!" Bofur beamed. "Soon as we stop and rest, we can start the first lesson. Right now, though, I think we'll be on the move again soon. Best to get ready now."

"Something's coming!" Thorin shouted suddenly, alerting the entire Company.

Drawing an arrow and readying it on her quiver, Celia joined the rest of the group, by now all armed and ready, although the group made sure that the girls were at the back, behind the rest of them and next to the two princes and Ori. An old man in a brown robe covered in dirt, and riding a sled pulled by rabbits suddenly pulled out of the shrubbery in front of them.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" he shouted hysterically.

"Radagast! Radagast the Brown. Ah. What on earth are you doing here?" Gandalf asked, walking up to the old man, looking very intrigued.

"I was looking for you, Gandalf. Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong," the wizard said worriedly.

"Yes?" Gandalf asked. Radagast opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. His eyes lit up with recognition, and he opened his mouth again, before he deflated and shut it again.

"Oh, just give me a minute. Um, oh, I had a thought, and now I've lost it. It was, it was right there, on the tip of my tongue." He curls his tongue suddenly, looking surprised. "Oh! It's not a thought at all; it's a silly old..." Looking both bemused and concerned, Gandalf pulled a stick insect off of his tongue. "Stick insect!" he finished.

Celia gagged, relaxing her drawstring but not putting her arrow away yet. "That's disgusting," she said quietly as the two wizards drew away a few paces and talked quietly.

Kíli, standing beside her, relaxed his stance as well and grinned. "I don't think I want to know how that even got in there." His brother nodded in agreement.

Thorin, standing by the front of the group, caught the girls' eyes and gestured them to the side of the group, out of hearing, he spoke in a low voice. "I told you to stay by the campsite," he began. "I don't know how you did it, and I ask that next time you listen, but thank you."

Celia groaned. "First Bífur and Bofur, now you. Does everyone know that we were there?" she complained softly.

Thorin's lips moved in what might have been a smile. "I believe just the three of us know. But as I said, I would request that the next time an event like this arise, that you would respect my authority."

Elena hung her head. "I know; I'm sorry. We'll try our best to listen, but if someone's in danger, please understand that we can't make any promises."

Thorin studied them both intently for a minute before nodding. "I understand, and I respect your loyalty." He turned to go back to the group before Elena caught his attention again.

"Uh, Mister Thorin, there is something you should now."

He turned back, a wary look on his face. "Yes?"

Elena bit her lip before answering. "I'm not sure when, but anytime now, we'll be found by an orc scouting party. It'd be best if we got a head start of some sort, so we need to leave. Now."

Thorin nodded once before spinning around, hand on his sword. "Change of plans. We're leaving. Now!" He ordered the rest of the company. "And keep your weapons handy. There've been signs of orcs about." Dwalin opened his mouth, but was caught off by an angry-sounding howl from the woods behind them.

"Was that a wolf? Are there - are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asked nervously.

"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf," Bofur answered quietly, holding his mattock steady.

They all spun around suddenly as a large warg suddenly leapt up onto a crag behind them. Jumping forward with a snarl, it knocked Glóin over. Thorin struck it with his new sword, Orcrist, killing it with but a blow. They didn't have time to relax, however, as another warg attacked from another side.

Eyes wide with fright, Celia shot an arrow at it, but hit it in the back, making it snarl, but doing no real harm. Drawing another arrow, she noticed Kíli firing another arrow at it as well. His shot, while better aimed, did not keep it from getting back up, until Dwalin struck it down with his axes.

"Warg Scouts! Which means an orc pack is not far behind," Thorin growled, looking at the girls.

"Orc pack?" Bilbo asked quietly, getting a firmer grip on Sting, which the girls noticed was glowing a slight blue.

Gandalf spun around on Thorin. "Who did you tell about your quest?" he demanded.

Thorin glowered at him. "No one."

"Who did you tell?" he demanded again.

"No one, I swear," Thorin said firmly, maintaining eye contact. "What in Durin's name is going on?" he asked.

"You are being hunted," Gandalf said gravely.

"We have to get out of here," Dwalin pointed out.

"We can't! We have no ponies; they bolted," Ori protested.

"I'll draw them off," Radagast offered.

"These are Gundabad Wargs; they will outrun you," Gandalf warned him, the dwarves scanning the forest around them.

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits; I'd like to see them try!" the brown wizard countered proudly.

Quickly drawing up a plan, the wizard hopped upon his sled and drove it at a high speed out of the woods and onto the plains, making as much noise as possible to attract the attention of the orcs, while the Company watched with baited breath behind a large rock. Waiting until they disappeared into the distance, followed by several screeching orcs on wargs, Gandalf ordered them forward.

"Come on!" he urged, running onto the rocky plain. Panting, Celia just managed to keep in the middle of the group as Gandalf suddenly veered off, and hid behind a large rock, after spotting some wargs not too far behind them.

"Stay together!" the gray wizard ordered them.

"As if I'd try to leave!" Celia panted to Elena, who was too busy trying to catch her breath to even roll her eyes.

"Move!" Thorin suddenly shouted, running forward again. They halted behind another rock to avoid being seen by the wargs. Ori, missing the rest of the group, kept going beyond the cover of the rock. "Ori, no! Come back!" Thorin called desperately, yanking the scribe back to them.

"Come on, quick!" Gandalf urged, leading the group forward.

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin demanded.

Gandalf looked back at him, but didn't answer, only urging them to run faster. "Quickly! Over here!" he said suddenly, spotting one of the wargs ahead of them scenting the air.

Darting under an overhang, they waited anxiously, hearing the footsteps of a warg scout on top of the overhang. Thorin looked at Celia and Kíli and nodded. Placing an arrow on each of their respective bows, Celia gestured that she would go from the left, and Kíli would go from the right. He nodded, drawing a deep breath before they both stepped out from underneath the overhang, Celia's heart pounding so loud she was sure the warg could find them by that alone.

Smoothly aiming and firing in one motion, Celia shot the orc in the shoulder at the same time that Kíli shot the warg, sending them tumbling off the overhang and onto the ground with a clang and a screech. Dwalin and Thorin quickly dispatched the two creatures, but not before the sounds they made attracted the attention of the rest of the scouting party. Howls informed the group that they had been spotted.

"Move! Run!" Gandalf shouted, directing them towards a grassy plain as wargs began to chase after them.

"There they are!" Glóin shouted, pointing towards another direction, where wargs began to chase them as well, cutting them off from behind.

"This way! Quickly!" Gandalf urged, running in another direction.

"Are we almost there, Gandalf?" Elena shouted breathlessly, after another few minutes of running.

"Almost where?" Fíli shouted, keeping close to her. She shook her head and didn't answer, focusing on running. They came to a stop suddenly in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by wargs.

"There's more coming!" Kíli warned.

"Kíli, Celia! Shoot them!" Thorin ordered in desperation, holding Orcrist at the ready. Standing at a slight angle away from Kíli, Celia drew her bow and began shooting arrow after arrow into the pack, barely noticing Gandalf disappearing into what looked like a rock out of the corner of her eye.

"We're surrounded!" Fíli shouted, twin swords drawn, but hanging back until the enemy came within range.

"Where's Gandalf?" Kíli asked, sounding a little panicked but still shooting.

"I don't know, just keep firing!" Celia shouted back.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin said gruffly, gripping his axes a little tighter as the ring of wargs grew steadily closer.

"Fall back, Kíli!" Celia shouted when Kíli stepped a little too far away from the group for comfort. "We need to stay by the group!"

"Everyone, stand your ground!" Thorin ordered, preparing to fight.

"This way, you fools!" Gandalf shouted, popping up from a crack in the ground.

"Come on, move! Quickly, all of you! Go, go, go!" Thorin shouted, urging the Company into the crack.

One by one, the dwarves and Bilbo slid into the crack, Celia and Kíli backing towards the group, but maintaining their steady fire. One of the wargs managed to escape the hail of arrows, and ran towards them, only to get slain by Thorin.

"Kíli, Celia, run!" he shouted worriedly. Holding her bow tight in her hand, Celia ran towards the group and slid down the crack with a small scream, rolling onto her feet at the bottom of what appeared to be a cave and backing away from the opening as Thorin and Kíli came down.

They got to their feet, backing away away from the opening as a horn sounded. Raising her eyes, Celia couldn't help but smile and let out a breath of relief, even as the sound of conflict outside the cave doubled.

The smile dropped as a loud screech sounded above their heads, before the body of an orc rolled down the opening and came to a stop at their feet, an arrow in its chest, and instantly having an array of weapons pointed at it.

Thorin knelt down beside it, pulling out and inspecting the arrow. He tossed it away in disgust. "Elves," he growled.

Dori, who had been inspecting the back of the cave, suddenly called out, "There's a path back here!"

Crowding around to inspect it, Dwalin said, "I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?"

"Follow it, of course," Bofur said immediately.

Gandalf nodded slowly. "I think that would be wise."

Celia huffed out a laugh, still feeling her heart pounding after the workout it had just gone through. Slowly slinging her bow over her shoulder, she followed the rest of the group out of the cave and through the pathway. Looking up, she could make out the blue of the sky above them, appearing between the openings of the two cliff walls towering on either side above them.

"That was some good shooting you did earlier," Kíli said quietly, making her jump.

"Oh, my goodness," she said softly, putting a hand on her heart. "Please don't do that, my heart's had enough action for one day."

He chuckled. "Sorry. If it's any consolation, I feel the same way. I've never really had much action before this trip. Amad never really let us go on any 'hare-brained schemes' as she was fond of calling them."

Celia shrugged. "She was probably just worried you'd get hurt. Mothers are supposed to do that." She noticed him staring at her curiously as they walked. "What?"

He shook his head slowly. "Nothing. It's just that, I've spent most of the past few weeks with you and your sister. The time before that, you were in the Shire, with Bilbo, and before that, back in your world, where there were no dwarrow, correct?"

She nodded, not sure where this was going. "Yeah? So?"

Kíli shrugged. "I guess, I was just wondering how you knew what the word 'Amad' meant, when you don't remember anything from when you were little, and none of us have had the chance to teach you any of it yet."

Celia's eyes widened as she realized what he was referring to. "Oh, well, I must have - it was - well, I mean, it was kind of obvious from the way you said it, that it must be your mother."

"Not really. It could have been referring to anyone," Kíli countered.

"So, what then? What do you think it is? That some of my memories are coming back, after being gone for more than twelve years?" Celia asked skeptically.

Kíli shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe, some of your memories were never really gone at all."

They had to stop talking for a moment, as the pathway narrowed such that they had to squeeze through, poor Bombur having to suck in his breath and turn sideways, barely squeezing through. Once on the other side, the path continued for a few more yards, before turning and ending in an open area overlooking a valley. Nestled into the valley was a beautiful city, with waterfalls streaming all over it.

"The Valley of Imladris. In the Common Tongue, it's known by a another name," Gandalf said softly, leaning on his staff.

Celia drew in a breath, taking in its beauty. "Rivendell."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, we're finally starting to get into movie events, now! Things will be progressing fairly quickly from here on, as there aren't too many layover chapters aside from in the Shire and in Rivendell. I also have plans for a sequel at some point, although they are pretty vague right now. Also, I've tried to make the dialogue more clear, so hopefully it's more readable now.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to E for reviewing! (Your reviews are always nice to read :))**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I'm a librarian, not a creator of epic stories and fictional races. Sorry. :/**


	14. Chapter 14 - Welcome to Rivendell

~~Elena~~

Gandalf nodded slowly. "Here lies the last Homely House east of the sea."

Thorin scowled. "This was your plan all along, to take refuge with our enemy!" he accused.

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill- will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself," Gandalf rebuked him.

"You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us," the dwarven leader retorted, glaring at him.

"Of course they will. But we have questions that need to be answered. If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact and respect and no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me," Gandalf said firmly, continuing on down the path.

Elena snickered quietly. "This is going to be interesting to watch," she whispered to Celia.

Her sister nodded, stifling a laugh. "Oh, El, look! The waterfalls are so beautiful!" She exclaimed, pointing at the streams of water flowing through and underneath the city.

Elena looked around at the breathtaking sight, eyes wide at the splendor. "Can you imagine, seeing this place in person? It's so much more beautiful!"

"It is definitely an amazing sight," Bilbo agreed, catching up to them.

Elena looked down at him and grinned. "I suppose you would know, considering you've been here before, and all that."

He shrugged. "Maybe. But it never hurts to look at it again with fresh eyes."

"Oh, this'll be fun," Elena muttered as they came to a long, narrow bridge with no rails that led to the entrance to Rivendell. "It's like a tightrope, only wider. Still kind of freaky, 'cause there's no net below to catch us." Some of the dwarves were looking about unhappily. "Why do you guys look so nervous? I thought dwarven halls had lots of bridges like this," Elena asked Fíli quietly.

He shrugged. "That was mainly underground, where we'd carved them from the stone ourselves, and knew firsthand how strong they were. This is out in the open, and, more importantly, perhaps, we can see the bottom far below," he gestured.

Elena peered cautiously over the side to the ground far below. "Ah. Yes, I can see how that would be disconcerting. But the elves made it, and they would hardly make one of their main entrances unsafe."

Fíli didn't look entirely reassured, but said nothing as they left the bridge and approached a flight of stairs.

A dark-haired elf hurried down the steps and greeted them. "Mithrandir," he said in surprise.

"Ah, Lindir," Gandalf returned happily. Elena frowned, noticing how the dwarves were muttering amongst themselves distrustfully.

" _Lastannem i athrannedh i Vruinen,_ " Lindir said in elvish. (We heard you had crossed into the Valley)

"I must speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf said urgently.

"My Lord Elrond is not here," Lindir informed him.

"Not here? Where is he?" the wizard asked in confusion. Lindir didn't reply, the elvish horns from earlier instead giving an answer. The Company turned around in confusion, only to be greeted with a large elven war party riding across the bridge at a rapid pace.

" _Ifridî bekâr!_ " Thorin shouted. "Hold ranks!"

Instantly the Company formed itself into a tight circle, weapons pointed outwards and the girls, Bilbo, Ori, Fíli and Kíli stuck in the center of the group, although the three male dwarves also had their weapons at the ready. They watched tensely as the elves began riding circles around the group, eventually stopping and one of them separating and approaching the group.

"Well, that was kind of rude, but I suppose payback is fair enough," Elena muttered to her sister.

"Gandalf," Elrond greeted easily.

The wizard bowed with a grace that belied his old age. "Lord Elrond. _Mellonnen! Mo evínedh?_ " he replied. (My friend! Where have you been?)

" _Farannem 'lamhoth i udul o charad. Dagannem rim na Iant Vedui, (_ We've been hunting a pack of Orcs that came up from the South. We slew a number near the Hidden Pass,)" the elven warrior responded in the same tongue, dismounting from his horse and hugging Gandalf. "Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something, or someone, has drawn them near," he mused in Common once more, holding up an orc sword to show them before handing it to Lindir.

"Ah, that may have been us," Gandalf admitted. Thorin stepped forward, a scowl upon his face.

Elrond looked at him with recognition in his eyes. "Welcome, Thorin, Son of Thrain," he greeted.

Thorin raised an eyebrow. "I do not believe we have met," he returned.

"You have your grandfather's bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled under the Mountain," Elrond said.

"Indeed; he made no mention of you," Thorin replied rudely.

Elena glared at him, Celia placing a hand on her arm to keep her from saying something out of turn. Elrond, however, ignored the insult, turning to the dwarves and speaking in Sindarin to Gandalf.

"What is he saying? Is he offering us insult?" Glóin demanded, all the other dwarves growing more uncertain and gripping their weapons tighter as he said that. Gandalf looked exasperated, but before he could say anything, another voice spoke up.

"Er, no, Master Glóin. He's actually offering us food," Bilbo translated. The group as one turned to look at him in shock as Elrond himself stepped forward.

"Master Baggins," he said in surprise. "Long has it been since you graced my halls with your presence."

Bilbo stepped forward, blushing, raising his hand from the opposite side of his waist to the side of his head in the traditional greeting, and bowing. "My Lord Elrond, I bid you greeting."

The Lord of Rivendell returned the gesture, looking kindly at the hobbit. "And I, you. I am pleased to see you in good health. We all mourned when we heard of the death of your mother, and wished we could have done more."

Bilbo shook his head, forcing a smile onto his face. "There was nothing you could have done, and my mother went to Yavanna's garden in peace. I am very grateful for all the care that you gave to us, and am indebted to you for further extending your hospitality to me and," he extended his hand to include the speechless Company, "My friends."

Elrond inclined his head. "Of course. The hospitality of Rivendell is always open to all. But any kindred of Lady Belladonna is especially welcome. If you will follow me, I will take you to your rooms, where you may wait while the food is being prepared."

"There's no need for that. We'll all stay together," Dwalin interposed gruffly, the other dwarves nodding in agreement with him.

"Very well, then," Elrond agreed. "I fear we have no sleeping room large enough to hold all of you, but if you would not mind staying in a large room, we can provide bedding for you."

"We've got everything we need on our own. Just show us to the room, and we will make our own way," Thorin said.

Elrond made no reply to the rude comment, but led the group up the stairs and through several hallways to a large room. "Here is where you may reside during your stay. If you will excuse me, I must go see to the preparations for the dinner," he said, bowing.

Celia cleared her throat. "Excuse me, Lord Elrond. If I may, could my sister and I have a separate room? If it's not imposing too much," she added hastily, indicating herself and her sister. Elrond looked at her in surprise before inclining his head gravely.

"But of course. Long has it been since I have seen one of your kind grace my halls. Welcome, my lady, to Rivendell." He bowed to both of them, some of the dwarves looking rather unhappy about this. "I will send one of my people to show you to your rooms shortly."

"Thank you," Celia smiled.

Elrond glanced sidelong at Gandalf. "It seems you have much to tell me, old friend." Gandalf just shrugged in reply, following the elf lord out of the room.

"Master Baggins, how is it that you know this elf lord?" Thorin demanded, practically spitting the word "elf".

But Elena rounded on the dwarves before Bilbo could answer. "Uh, no. I don't think Bilbo owes you an answer for anything, particularly not after the way you lot have been treating him on this journey. Bofur's one of the only ones who's been anything more than decently polite to him. And some of you can't even manage that!" she said angrily, eyeing Thorin, Dwalin, and Nori in particular. "And then, after all that, you have the nerve to repeatedly insult our host, after he's just voluntarily taken us in, when we were in trouble and needed help! What is your problem?"

The dwarves seemed a little taken aback at her outburst, but not otherwise affected. Glóin glanced at the others before saying, acting as if the answer was obvious, "Well, they're elves, after all." His tone seemed to indicate that they deserved it.

Celia raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Well done. Brilliant deduction, that," she said sarcastically. "They're elves. And, you think that because they're elves, that makes it okay for you to act like horribly rude people after they were so nice to you? Because that doesn't make you the good guys. That makes you the bad guys."

Thorin glared at her. "You know not of what you speak. The elves betrayed us in our moment of greatest need."

Elena nodded, the angry expression not leaving her face. "Yes. And I'm very sorry that that happened to you. Thranduil was acting in a behavior not befitting any free person, let alone an Elven king. But, and I don't know if you happened to notice the difference between Thranduil's elves and the elves of Rivendell at all, they're not the same people! Elrond is not Thranduil! He offered you aid. He was not there when Smaug attacked. He had nothing to do with it!"

"We received no offers of aid from Rivendell," Thorin glowered, the rest of the dwarves and Bilbo rather anxiously watching the standoff between the dwarf king and the girls.

Elena tilted her head, looking at him sadly, thinking of his grandfather, lost to the gold-sickness. "And I'm sorry, but would you have known, had you received them? Would you have accepted them, had you known it'd been offered?"

"You seem so sure that Elrond would have offered aid," Thorin said, eyeing her, not responding to her previous comment. "For one so new to this world and our ways."

"People, particularly elves, rarely change their inner being, over time," Celia commented softly. "It will always show through, in the end. Elrond is not Thranduil. We're not asking you to forgive Thranduil, what he did was very wrong. But, for heaven's sake. You've experienced enough prejudice in the world already, why don't you try stopping the cycle for once, instead of continuing it?" she pleaded, looking at the rest of the dwarves.

"That goes for all of you, too. We are guests in Lord Elrond's house. You all think that dwarves are so special, and better than elves? Then prove it," she challenged. "Now, I don't know about you, but I, for one, am really looking forward to the chance to relax for once, in a decent bed, with some decent food. No offense to Master Bombur, because he's an excellent cook, but some home-cooked food eaten at a table would be good right now," she said, climbing the steps towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Kíli asked cautiously.

Celia turned around. "I don't know. We're just in one of the three greatest elven realms, is all. I definitely can't think of a reason why I'd want to look around," she said sarcastically, wandering out into the hallway.

Elena looked at the rest of the dwarves and shrugged. "I can't say I disagree with her. I mean, seriously. You turned down a fresh bed for a floor? Come on, use your brains, not your irrational hatred," she urged, most of her previous anger gone, and only exasperation left. She shook her head when she was met with only silence, suddenly feeling the urge to leave, and go exploring as her sister had done.

"All right. You know what, fine. I'm gonna go explore. You keep on and do whatever, but don't expect any support from me, or my sister," she stated firmly, walking out the door. Once outside, she couldn't help but stand by the doorway in an attempt to hear what they said once she left.

"Well, that was unexpected," she heard one of them comment drily.

"Did you know why they got all upset like that, Mister Baggins?" She heard Kíli ask, still sounding surprised.

Bilbo sighed. "They're a bit overprotective of me, and after spending a year and a half in the Shire, where respectability is everything, they're not particularly, er..." he hesitated. "They're not very fond of rudeness or ingratitude," he finally finished quietly. "I mean, taking us in when we were uninvited aside, they also know that Lord Elrond helped me when I was younger, so they're also more inclined to like him, as well."

"How did he help you?" Kíli asked, before adding hastily, "I mean, if you want to tell us, you don't have to or anything."

There was some rustling. "No, Kíli, it's fine. Like I said, the girls are just overprotective. When the Fell Winter came several decades ago, my father was killed, and my mother badly injured by wolves. We came here to recuperate, and Lord Elrond healed my mother as best as he was able. We left a year later, and my mother stayed in the Shire until her death a few years after that."

"I thought hobbits didn't leave the Shire, aside from you," Ori pointed out curiously. "All of our records indicate that they prefer to stay at home."

Bilbo laughed with no humor in it. "They don't. And we were still in the Shire. But the Brandywine river froze over, and the wolves were able to cross into the Shire. We holed up in our smials for as long as we could, but we eventually ran out of food, and had to go look for more. That was when the wolves attacked. My mother was badly injured, and Lord Elrond was the only one who could help her."

"I'm sorry, Mister Baggins. I didn't mean to pry," Ori apologized quickly, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen.

"Oh, no need to worry, Master Ori. I accepted my parents' fate a long time ago," Bilbo assured him. There was more muted talking, but Elena had heard enough. Making sure her steps were silent, she slipped down the hallway and stopped when she found her sister examining the shards of Narsil on its pedestal.

"I was wondering if you were gonna follow me," her sister remarked quietly, not looking up from the shards.

Elena shrugged. "I wanted to hear what they were gonna say when we left. Nothing terribly interesting. They still don't seem to understand why we were upset, and Bilbo eventually gave in and explained how he knew Lord Elrond."

Celia snorted. "Typical. Maybe they'll at least be more polite from now on."

Elena shook her head doubtfully. "Maybe the two princes and Ori, but they were nice enough to him anyways." She sighed. "Enough about those idiots. Can you believe that these," she nodded her head towards the shards, "are the shards of Narsil?"

Celia nodded in excitement. "I know. I mean, you know, we were in the Shire, we met Thorin Oakenshield... but this... this is big."

"My ladies?" Elrond's voice startled them, and they both whipped their heads around to see him standing there, watching them with a curious glint in his eyes. "I beg your pardon, but I do not know your names as of yet."

"Oh, sorry!" Elena flushed. "I'm Elena, and this is my twin sister Celia."

Elrond raised an eyebrow. "Twins? That is most interesting news indeed. A true blessing from the Valar, and a sign, perhaps, of what you are to do." Celia and Elena looked at each other, startled.

He smiled slightly. "I am aware on some level what you are. I could sense the magic around you as soon as I saw you, and Gandalf has assured me that you are of no threat to me or my people. However," he held up a hand to stop them from saying anything. "I do not believe that this is the place to discuss it. I will show you to your rooms, so that you may rest yourselves, and bathe if you so wish, before supper, then we may discuss the real meaning of why you are here tonight."

Elena bowed. "Thank you, Lord Elrond. We are very grateful for everything you have offered to us."

"Of course. The hospitality of Rivendell is open to all." He led them down a hallway then stopped outside a room not too far from where the rest of the Company would be staying. "This will be your room while you stay. There are two beds inside, and a door inside that connects to the bathing chamber. Supper will be served shortly, I will return, or send one of your Company to retrieve you."

Celia smiled. "Thank you."

He nodded gracefully. "Now, if you will excuse me, my presence is required elsewhere." He walked smoothly down the rest of the corridor, before turning and disappearing into one of the hallways further down.

Elena walked into the room, set her pack down on the floor beside her axes, and just stared. "Wow. This is really pretty. I mean, it's got to be at least as nice as a fancy hotel back home, and probably way more natural."

There were two beds, covered in soft, lilac bedspreads, with downy pillows on top, and two rocking chairs with cushions on the seat in corners, next to a wooden door in the far wall. A large, woven rug with pictures depicting some point in Elven history would keep their feet from being chilled by the smooth marble floor, and a large window looked out onto a spacious garden, with a fountain splashing clear water in the center.

"I don't know about you, but I want a bath," Celia grunted, hefting her bag up onto her shoulder and pushing the second door in the room open.

"Yeah, same," her twin agreed, following her into the large, enclosed room. There was a deep pool set in the center of the room, with bottles of liquid with labels on them on the side, and what looked like bars of soap next to them on miniature shelves, and a stack of towels by the entrance to the room.

"Okay, well, we don't have much time, so... how about we just quickly wash at opposite sides of the pool?" Celia suggested.

Elena shrugged. "Fine by me. I just can't wait to get what feels like three weeks of dirt off my skin." Grabbing a towel, she crossed to the opposite side of the pool, shed her dirty clothes, and got in, back to her sister.

The water was pleasantly warm to the touch, and instantly relaxed her. She grabbed one of the bottles that said 'hair' in the common tongue, and quickly scrubbed it into her hair.

"You know, one of the things that I really missed about home was the shampoo and conditioner, but I think this comes pretty close," she called over her shoulder.

"Yeah. And have you tried the soap yet? It's amazing! The dirt practically melts off your body!" her sister agreed.

Quickly washing, Elena regretfully climbed out of the water and toweled off, digging through her bag for some suitable clothes to wear. "I know I packed a dress in here, somewhere," she muttered.

"Aha!" she shouted in triumph, pulling out a dark brown skirt, white blouse, and a dark green lace-up top to wear over it. "Victory is mine!" she proclaimed, her voice muffled as she pulled it over her head, her necklace feeling cool against her skin under her blouse. "Did you bring something to wear, too?" she called, not looking behind her and towel-drying her hair vigorously.

"Yeah, hold on. Long hair takes a lot longer to wash then short hair does," her sister sulked.

Elena hid a smile. "I feel like someone mentioned this not too long ago... hmm, who could it have been?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, hush. I'm almost done," her sister informed her.

Elena smirked, but acquiesced, trying to think of something else to do to pass the time. "Hey, Celia?" she called a minute later, the smirk evident in her voice.

"What?" Her sister's voice was wary.

"Just wanted to know how you felt about being saved by the man of your dreams. Sorry - I mean, _dwarf_ of your dreams. I noticed that after he caught you, Master Kíli held on to you for a bit longer than was strictly necessary."

There was a slightly larger than normal splash. "I don't know what you're talking about," Celia claimed airily. "I do recall, however, noticing that while you were perfectly able to jump down from the tree by yourself, you had a certain blond dwarf catch you instead. Sound familiar, perchance?"

Elena chuckled. "That was just utilizing all my resources. The fact that he was rather attractive made no difference."

"So you did notice that he was attractive, then," Celia accused. "And you can turn around, by the way."

Elena turned around, rubbing the towel through her head one last time to try and catch any more loose water droplets. "Of course I did. I'm practical, not blind. Are you going to need help with your hair?" she asked, noting the way her sister was wringing the water out of it.

Celia was dressed in an outfit similar to her sister's, with a deep blue skirt and dark brown top over her blouse. "Maybe with the brushing," she said sheepishly. "It's hard to reach the tangles at the bottom when it's this long and I don't have a mirror," she said, indicating her now waist-length hair.

"Come on," Elena smiled. "Let's get back to the room, and I can braid your hair back." Walking back into the room, they placed their packs on their respective beds, Elena pulling out her hairbrush. "Let's sit by the window, we can look out on the garden as I brush." Celia nodded, kneeling in front of the window.

Elena quickly ran the brush through her own hair, by now almost completely dry, then set to work on her sister's. After five or so minutes of brushing, Celia's hair was finally tangle free. Grabbing a hair-tie from her bag, Elena quickly managed to pull her sister's hair into a waterfall braid, tying it and blending it in with the rest of her hair.

"There. You're done," she told her sister, starting to turn her own hair into a crown braid. She had just finished when they heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Celia volunteered, getting to her feet and opening the door. "Kíli! What are you doing here?"

"I've come to take you to supper," the young dwarf said, before his eyes widened. "Wow. You're wearing a dress. I don't think I've ever seen either of you in a dress before."

Elena rolled her eyes, coming to stand beside her twin. "That's because we never had the occasion to. When we first met you, we'd just come back from working with the Bounders, and then we started on the quest the next day."

Kíli shrugged. "Well, you look nice."

Celia smiled, blushing a little. "Thank you, Kíli." Elena bit back a smile, hanging behind the two as he offered her his arm, before seeming to recall that she was there, and offering his other arm to her.

"My mother raised us to have some manners," he proclaimed cheerfully.

Elena grinned, wrapping one hand loosely around his arm as they walked down the hallway. "Too bad she couldn't give you more brains," she said fondly.

Kíli pretended to be hurt. "Oh, Lady Elena, you wound me," he cried dramatically.

She snorted. "I'm sure. Don't worry. Celia's been trained as a medic. She could probably ensure your survival, if nothing else. You should be fine."

"Yep!" her sister agreed cheerfully. "He'd probably survive if I worked on him. Maybe," she added as an afterthought.

"I always feel so comforted, knowing that if Óin gets hurt, you're our only hope," Kíli said sarcastically. Celia threw back her head and laughed, the others joining in.

"All I know, is that if I don't get some food soon, _I'm_ going to need medical help," Elena commented. "Come on! I'm hungry!"

"Now, now, don't forget to act ladylike," her sister remonstrated with a snicker as they walked into the Elven court. Tables were set up in the middle of the room, with food being set on the tables by servants, music being played softly in the background, and the Company sitting around the tables, looking rather unhappy about the green fare that they had been served.

"Try it, just a mouthful," Dori urged his youngest brother, who didn't seem terribly excited about the prospect.

"I don't like green food," Ori said plaintively.

"Where's the meat?" Dwalin demanded, digging through a bowl of salad with his hands.

"Maybe you should ask the elves for some. I'm sure if you used your manners, they would be happy to help you," Elena said sweetly, as they approached the tables. A few of the dwarves eyed her warily, remembering her temper from earlier.

"We don't speak elvish talk, lass," Glóin informed her, looking rather insulted at the implication.

Celia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because they clearly don't speak common. Oh, wait."

"I speak elvish," Bilbo volunteered. "I can ask them. Hold on." Getting a servant's attention, he quietly spoke to them in elvish, getting a quick response back before the the servant hurried off. "They'll bring some meat out with the next course," he assured the group. "This is just the appetizer."

Óin grunted, stuffing a napkin into his ear trumpet. "Well, that's good to hear. Now if only there was some way to stop this music."

"Stuffing your ear trumpet ought to work," his brother informed him with a roll of his eyes.

"Eh?" Óin asked in confusion, holding said trumpet up to his ear and smiling when he heard nothing.

"Elena, Celia, you'll be sitting up by Uncle and Gandalf," Kíli said, leading them to their spots near the front of the table, before taking his own place a few seats away.

"Ah, Lady Elena, Lady Celia, how good of you to join us," Elrond said gracefully as they sat down. "I hope your rooms were to your satisfaction."

"Indeed, they were most satisfactory, Lord Elrond. And I'm sure that we shall be quite glad to have a soft bed to sleep on come nightfall," Celia said, eyeing Thorin slyly. His scowl deepened slightly, but he said nothing.

"So, tell me, Lady Elena, which of you is the elder? You informed me earlier that you and your sister were twins, much like my sons Elladan and Elrohir," the elf lord inquired as they began eating.

Elena swallowed her food. "I am the elder, Lord Elrond, though it matters little, as neither my sister nor I knew who was the elder for most of our lives. In the end, we decided to simply take turns being the eldest until we knew for sure."

Elrond nodded, a slight smile appearing on his face. "Perhaps I should have tried that with my two sons, for they fought among themselves often growing up."

Elena tilted her head thoughtfully. "I feel that that is, perhaps, the way of families, my lord. They often bicker among themselves, but you will find no truer friends than the ones you grew up with."

The conversation was halted temporarily as the second course was brought out. As promised, there were several dishes of meat served, grilled to just the right stage of tenderness, and the dwarves dug in happily, chatting quietly among themselves, although occasionally a rowdy laugh would go up from the group. Elena hid a smile as she finished the last of her food, watching them out of the corner of her eye.

"You sure seem to be keeping a close eye on them. Particularly a certain blond-haired one," her sister leaned over and whispered quietly into her ear. Elena felt her face start to flush, but made sure to show no other sign of emotion on her face.

"Maybe I'm just trying to make sure they don't do anything stupid, like jump up on the table and sing," she whispered back.

Celia swirled her water in her glass carefully. "I don't think they'll do anything like that this time. They got the meat they wanted, so that should keep them content. So don't think you're getting out of this line of questioning," she hissed.

"Master Thorin," Elrond asked the dwarf king, interrupting Elena's response. "I noticed that the sword you possess is of elven make. May I see it?" Thorin narrowed his eyes slightly, but carefully unsheathed his sword and passed it to Elrond, who examined it carefully.

"This is Orcrist, the Goblin Cleaver. A famous blade, forged by the High Elves of the West, my kin. May it serve you well." He handed it back to Thorin, who nodded at him before sheathing it.

"I, too, have a blade of the same age as Thorin's. I was wondering if you would be able to tell me something about mine," Gandalf interjected, placing his sword on the table in front of Elrond.

The elf lord tilted it slightly, studying the runes crafted on there as well as its make. "This is Glamdring, the Foe- hammer, sword of the King of Gondolin. These swords were made for the goblin wars of the First Age," he explained, giving a brief history of the swords.

A movement in the corner of her eye caught Elena's attention. Bilbo and Balin were looking at Sting, lying across Bilbo's lap.

"What are you saying, my sword hasn't seen battle?" Bilbo asked quietly so as to not disturb the others.

"I'm not actually sure it is a sword; more of a letter opener, really," Balin offered gently. Elena's lip twitched, thinking of all that the "letter opener" would do later on, saving the ring-bearer included.

"How did you come by these?" Elrond asked, drawing all of their attention back to him as Bilbo reluctantly replaced his sword in its sheath.

"We found them in a troll hoard on the Great East Road, shortly before we were ambushed by orcs," Gandalf explained.

"And what were you doing on the Great East Road?" Elrond questioned, looking at them seriously. Elena bit her lip and shifted slightly in her seat, the tension growing more awkward as no one answered him, the question hanging in the air. Elrond raised his eyebrows as it became evident that there was no answer forthcoming.

"Very well. Then may I ask what two dwarrowdams, with their abilities, are doing, following a wizard and company of dwarrow to my realm?" The girls stiffened slightly, Thorin and Gandalf both glancing at them before the wizard answered.

"That is not a question for the open air, my friend. Our journey is secret, and dangerous. Their tale, even more so."

Elrond nodded, rising swiftly from his chair. "I understand. Come, we may talk with assured secrecy in the gardens."

* * *

 **A/N: Finally in Rivendell, and Elena and Celia have had enough. Verbal smackdown ensues.**

 **Dwarvish Translations:**

 **Ifridî bekâr! = Ready weapons!**

 **Thank you to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to naomi. coigligh, So So Something, Yumiko097, and E for reviewing!**

 ** _naomi. coigligh: Aww, thanks. :) Dwalin is a loveable grump. I'm glad to see you like him. New update as requested! :)_**

 ** _So So Something: Good to hear! :) Hope you like it!_**

 ** _Yumiko097: Thanks! :) I'll try... but no promises. ;)_**

 ** _E: No worries...I know firsthand how distracting RL can be. :/ *shakes fist at homework and calendar* And thanks! I thought it would be a good way to start to lead into it... I do have a few plans for Rivendell... you'll just have to wait and see. ;) Hope you like the new one! :)_**

 **Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or LOTR... they all belong to the JRR Tolkien estate. I just play there, sometimes.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Royal Pains

~~Celia~~

Gandalf, Thorin, Balin, Bilbo, and the girls all rose with Elrond and followed him through a series of hallways until they were outside, a short distance away from the house, and in the middle of a spacious garden, the sound of the Company joking together still audible in the distance. Elrond turned around and said, "You may speak freely here. And I ask that you speak the truth. What are you doing here?"

Gandalf glanced at the others before speaking. "Old friend, the two young ladies that you see before you have been sent on a mission that may well prove to be more dangerous than our own. There is a magic about them, but it is not of any evildoing. They are randir."

Elrond drew back, startled, looking at Gandalf in consternation. "Randir? Are you sure? There have been no reports of randir since the Greenwood was in peril. The gates were shut."

"They have been reopened," Gandalf informed him gravely. "And it would seem that more than just the Greenwood may be in peril, if what they know is true."

Elrond turned to look at the girls, scrutinizing them carefully. "Is what he says true? Do you know of what he speaks?"

Celia glanced at her sister, who shrugged. "Sort of? Back in our world, we didn't know that this world existed. There were only humans, and none of this was real. Then, one day, we were out in the woods, and found a bare patch of dirt, where nothing grew."

She shivered, remembering everything that had happened that day. "It felt cold. And dead. Then, it started pulling at us, and we couldn't get away. Bilbo found us lying unconscious in the Shire some time later, I don't know how much, now looking like dwarves. He took us in until we got together with Gandalf and the rest of the dwarves, where Gandalf was able to figure out who we are."

"There is something else, that is important as well," Gandalf interposed. They all turned to look at him. "Elena and Celia were not like the randirthat have come here in the past."

Elrond frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Elena and Celia were born in this world, to Lord Thokar and Lady Samara of Erebor, before being taken to the other world, and eventually returning here to be found by Bilbo," the wizard explained.

"It's true," Bilbo spoke up. "And when I found them, they seemed shocked at the very idea that I was a hobbit, seeming to believe that it was a trick of some sort."

Elrond turned back to the girls. "So if you are bothrandir, then what is it you are supposed to do? What is your purpose?"

The sisters glanced at each other. "We don't know for sure, but we know what's going to happen, and we're trying to change things for the better," Elena answered. Balin looked unsurprised at the news, leaving Celia to guess that either Thorin had informed him of this, or he had correctly guessed on his own.

"And how does that business involve the Company? What are you doing with them?" the elf lord asked.

Thorin frowned, but Celia answered before he could. "Because what they are doing is vital to the future of Middle Earth." She lowered her voice. "The Enemy is rising again to power. He will strike, and soon. If we are not prepared, disaster will fall."

Elrond drew back in shock. "He was defeated long ago."

Elena shook her head. "But not destroyed. Even now, his forces are drawing strength in the fortress of Dol Guldur, something of which Gandalf is aware, and has some proof of it, I believe," she added, eyeing the gray wizard.

He nodded. "Elena is right, I'm afraid," he admitted. "There is an evil lurking there."

"And that's not all." Celia lowered her voice. "The weapon of the Enemy will be found. And soon. By the only person with whom it could safely reside for any amount of time. But if we fail, Middle Earth will fall."

Elrond narrowed his eyes at her. "The weapon? Are you sure?"

"Positive," Celia confirmed. Gandalf and Elrond exchanged glances.

"This news is more dire than I had previously believed," Elrond told Gandalf.

The wizard nodded gravely. "Indeed. But that is not the only reason why we are here."

Elrond raised an eyebrow at his friend. "And what is the other, Mithrandir?"

"We require your map-reading skills," the old man admitted. "There is a puzzle, one which I cannot solve." Beside him, Thorin and Balin stiffened. Bilbo looked between the two with a puzzled frown.

Elrond inclined his head. "I shall do my best. Do you have the map with you?"

Gandalf glanced at Thorin, who had a stubborn look on his face. "Perhaps it would be best if we were to meet with you at a later time tonight, after I have had a chance to meet with Thorin, and... discuss what needs to be done, and we have had a chance to gather the map."

The elf lord looked vaguely amused and inclined his head once more. "I shall send my servants to gather you when night has fallen. Perhaps the light of the moon will shed some light on our path."

"Well, he's not wrong," Celia muttered to Elena, who stifled a laugh. The elf lord glanced at them, but said nothing as the group started to disperse, Bilbo joining the girls as they continued walking through the gardens.

"So, what are you going to do until we meet with Lord Elrond again?" he inquired after a minute.

Celia shrugged. "I don't know. Look at the gardens? We probably won't see anything this nice again until we're done with the quest."

"And even then, it would probably be in Erebor, and in desperate need of repair," Elena added.

"Have you ever seen Erebor?" Bilbo asked curiously, stopping to look at a three-tiered fountain.

Celia glanced at her twin. "In pictures, I guess, technically. Never in person. We wouldn't have been born until after it fell. But I know that it was supposed to be the greatest of the seven dwarf kingdoms, filled with beauty, riches, and strength before it fell. And if we can reclaim it, and start repairs, it'd probably end up looking even better than it did the first time."

"Why do you think that?" Elena asked, furrowing her brow in confusion. "They haven't really made any new technological advances to help them build or anything."

Celia shook her head with a smile. "No, but it's the way of life, and even the body. Once something is broken, if treated right, it can end up being stronger than before. Like a bone that is broken. If it's healed right, it ends up being stronger than it was the first time." She paused, eyes distant. "And even people. Once they fall, if they manage to rise again, they can be even stronger than they were before, because now they know what it's like to fall, and will avoid things like that happening again."

Bilbo eyed her. "I get the feeling you're not talking about a physical fall."

Celia shook her head. "No. More like when... people forget who they're supposed to be," she said, thinking of Thorin and the gold-madness. "They fall from where they used to be, no longer _who_ they used to be. But if they manage to get back up again, they're so much the stronger for it." She snorted. "Okay, sermon's over. Can we look at the fountains now?"

Elena grinned.

xXx

They remained in the gardens for another two hours until night fell. Then one of Elrond's servants came to bring them back into the halls, bringing them to an open area before disappearing. Everyone from earlier was there, Thorin clutching the map in his hand and not looking happy about it.

"Ah, now we are all here again," Gandalf said casually, noticing their arrival. "Now we may begin. Thorin?"

The dwarf lord glared at him and clutched the map a little tighter. "Our business is no concern of elves."

Gandalf looked exasperated. "For goodness sake, Thorin, show him the map!"

Thorin, if anything, just looked more stubborn. "It is the legacy of my people; it is mine to protect, as are its secrets."

"Save me from the stubbornness of dwarves! Your pride will be your downfall. You stand here in the presence of one of the few in Middle Earth who can read that map. Show it to Lord Elrond," Gandalf ordered, nearing the end of his patience with Thorin.

Thorin hesitated for a minute before giving in and handing the map to Elrond, Balin trying to stop him. But Thorin, once set on a path, could not be deterred from it, and brushed him off, handing it to Elrond.

Elrond unfurled it, at once realizing what was on it. "Erebor. What is your interest in this map?" he asked, looking at them sharply.

"It's mainly academic. As you know, this sort of artifact sometimes contains hidden text. You still read Ancient Dwarvish, do you not?" Gandalf asked, giving a weak cover. Celia rolled her eyes, but kept quiet as Elrond eyed him, clearly not believing him, especially after the discussion earlier about the girls' mission.

Walking a ways with the map, Elrond stopped when some moonbeams shone on it. "Cirth ithil," he said softly in realization.

"Moon runes. Of course. An easy thing to miss," Gandalf said, trying to save face.

"Well, in this case, that is true; moon runes can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season as the day on which they were written," Elrond informed them.

"Can you read them?" Thorin asked, his face revealing nothing of what he thought.

Elrond led them all outside to an open area on the side of a cliff, laying the map on a large crystalline table which lay in the center of the area. "These runes were written on a Midsummer's Eve by the light of a crescent moon nearly two hundred years ago. It would seem you were meant to come to Rivendell. Fate is with you, Thorin Oakenshield; the same moon shines upon us tonight."

They looked up at the sky as the clouds, covering the moon, began to roll away, allowing the moonbeams to hit the table, and start to illuminate the map. Watching from the back of the group, even though she knew what was going to happen, Celia couldn't help but suck in an awed breath as ancient runes began to appear on the map.

" _Stand by the gray stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole_ ," Elrond read, translating the runes.

"Durin's Day?" Bilbo asked, frowning in confusion.

"It is the start of the dwarves' new year, when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together," Gandalf explained, still looking at the map.

"This is ill news. Summer is passing. Durin's Day will soon be upon us," Thorin said gravely.

"We still have time," Balin tried to encourage him.

"Time for what?" Bilbo asked, still confused.

"To find the entrance. We have to be standing at exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. Then, and only then, can the door be opened," Balin explained. Bilbo nodded, realization dawning.

Celia looked up at Elrond, seeing the realization - and hint of disapproval - appear on his face. "So this is your purpose, to enter the Mountain," he said slowly.

"What of it?" Thorin asked, eyeing him warily.

"There are some who would not deem it wise," Elrond informed him.

"What do you mean?" Gandalf asked as Thorin gruffly reclaimed the map.

"You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle Earth," Elrond reminded him, turning to walk away, leaving Gandalf thinking deeply.

Celia bit her lip, realizing that he was probably referring to the White Wizard, and knew nothing of his eventual betrayal. Now was her chance to tell him - now or never. "Lord Elrond? Gandalf?" Celia asked hesitantly, shrinking back a little as they both turned to look at her, even as Thorin, Balin, and Bilbo all left, casting a wary glance back at them.

"Yes, Lady Celia?" Elrond asked, coming to stand before her.

She chewed on her lip nervously. "Sorry to disturb you, it's just that - there's something that you need to know." She looked down. "You've already sent for Lady Galadriel and Saruman, haven't you?"

The elf lord looked surprised, but nodded. "I expect them here tomorrow evening."

Celia hesitated. "Don't... don't trust Saruman. Not completely." Both of the powerful men frowned at her.

"What ever do you mean, Lady Celia?" Gandalf asked in consternation. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped, mouth suddenly dry.

"She means that while Saruman isn't evil yet, he's already been tempted by the idea of power; and the knowledge that you will give him when you see him, will increase that desire," Elena interrupted bluntly.

Gandalf looked disconcerted, while Elrond looked over at him in confusion. "What knowledge?"

"That the enemy has returned, and awaits in Dol Guldur," Elena answered for him. "Not just a nameless evil, but one of the greatest evils of all time."

Gandalf nodded, his face drawn. "A great evil, yes. But what does that have to do with Saruman?"

Celia frowned. "When you meet with him and Lady Galadriel, see whether or not he dismisses your concerns." She sighed. "If the enemy is moving, then think... what else could be awake, and what could tempt someone who desires power?"

Gandalf drew back, staring at her in shock. "You don't mean... the weapon of the enemy?"

She nodded, face serious. "He's still on our side for now, but don't trust him with any more than he absolutely needs to know. The desire for power will tempt him, growing ever stronger. He will help you for now, but eventually, at some point in the future, I don't know exactly when, he will fall, unless you can stop him."

Gandalf looked at Elrond seriously. "This is ill news."

The elf lord nodded, face drawn. "Indeed. If what you say is true, then we must be prepared."

"And one more thing, I guess," Celia said hesitantly as they both turned to look at her once more, faces grave. "Erebor must be reclaimed. If we fail, when the enemy strikes, Gondor will be lost without their aid. They provide a crucial stronghold against him." She looked at Elrond. "That's what we're doing right now. Thorin's fighting to save Erebor, yes, but we're fighting to save Middle Earth."

Elrond looked at her gravely... and smiled. "It would seem, Lady Celia, as though you've already found your purpose for coming here."

She blinked in surprised realization. "I guess so."

He bowed slightly. "If you ladies would excuse us, I believe that Gandalf and I have much to speak of. You have shown us much this night."

Celia nodded, doing an awkward curtsy with her skirt, Elena doing the same. "Of course. We should probably be getting to bed. Farewell!" she added, turning and exiting the chamber.

They walked quietly through the solemn halls, trying to find their room again, when a sudden shout of laughter startled them both. Looking through a window, they could see a fire burning merrily on the ground in another part of the building, and multiple stocky figures huddled around it.

"Well, I guess we know where the rest of the Company is," Elena muttered dryly.

"And I think I know where we are," Celia realized. "We should be right down this hallway." She nodded, stopping outside their door. "Here we are!" she said proudly, pushing the door open, revealing a fire burning lowly in a grate by the wall inside.

"And thank goodness," Elena said with a yawn, walking in and collapsing onto her bed. "I'm ready for sleep now."

"Well, we should at least take care of our hair first, and maybe change into some sleep tunics first," her sister pointed out. Elena didn't answer. Looking over, Celia couldn't help but chuckle when she saw her sister fast asleep on the bed, mouth slightly open. "You always were the first one out," she whispered in amusement, drawing a blanket from the foot of the bed and laying it over her sister.

Getting ready for bed in silence, she climbed into her bed and tried to sleep, only to lay awake for what felt like hours, thoughts running over the events of the day. Even though she had known that they would be found by the orcs, they were much more terrifying in real life, when they were running at you with the intention of killing you. She finally fell into an uneasy sleep, waking what seemed like moments later from a nightmare she didn't care to remember.

Sitting up in bed, she rubbed the sleep, and a few unwelcome tears, from her eyes, and looked around. The fire had burned down completely during the night, but was no longer needed, as she could see hints of early daylight peeking through the windows. Elena was still fast asleep, evidently having no problems with the previous day's adventure.

She sighed, blinking tiredly, and got out of bed, pulling on a green tunic with brown pants, braiding her hair back, and slinging her bow and quiver over her shoulder, hoping to relieve some of her tension with exercise.

She wandered out into the halls, and, coming upon a tall, dark-haired elf, asked him if there was an archery ground where she could practice. He looked surprised, but offered to show her the grounds.

"My name is Elladan, by the way, my lady," he said with a bow, before leading the way through the winding halls. "I believe you met my father last night."

"Oh!" Celia exclaimed. "Yes, he mentioned you."

"Nothing too terrible, I hope," the young elf said jokingly.

Celia shook her head with a smile. "No, he merely commented on us both being twins, you with your brother, and me with my sister."

Elladan regarded her with more interest than he had previously. "Then you are not only a dwarrowdam but a twin? Truly, the Valar have blessed you and your family!"

Celia smiled awkwardly. "I... guess?"

"Do you not know what that represents?" he asked curiously.

She shook her head. "No, no, I do... some friends of ours told us what it meant, it just... it wasn't like that at all where we grew up. Twins were much more common, apparently, so it was nothing to be remarked on."

"Perhaps it was where you grew up," Elladan commented. "But here... it is likely that this is a sign of some great deed to be done." Celia stiffened, not comfortable with this new line of conversation.

He saw it, and apologized. "I do not wish to make you uneasy, my lady. I only desired to pass the time until we should arrive," he explained, leading her outdoors into a large grassy area, with targets set at varying distances.

Celia's eyes widened. "Wow. This is really big!" She exclaimed, looking up at the tall elf.

He grinned. "Indeed, it must be so, for this is where we practice for battle." He turned to leave, but hesitated. "Is there anything else you require before I depart, my lady?"

Celia smiled and shook her head. "Just call me Celia, please, Lord Elladan. I'm not used to being called by fancy titles."

The elf lord bowed. "I will respect your wish, then, Celia, if you will respect mine and call me Elladan. I, too, am not overly fond of fancy titles, as you put it, but being the son of my father often requires me to accept it."

"Shall we shake on it, then?" Celia grinned, offering him her hand. He looked at it curiously, but took it. "All right. It's a deal," Celia declared, shaking his hand before releasing it.

He bowed once more. "Farewell, Celia. Duty calls me for now, but perhaps I shall return later, if I can."

"Bye!" she called, waving as he silently disappeared back into the building.

She removed her bow, turning back to the range and studying it. Placing an arrow to the string, she sighted at a distant target some twenty yards away, and closed her eyes, visualizing the target in her mind, before releasing, opening her eyes as she did so. She smirked a little bit as she saw it hit hit the center. Shooting a few practice shots, she soon shifted to a target ten yards further, striving to get it accurate every time.

After two hours of shooting, her arm was starting to get tired, but her accuracy had returned to its previous state before they had left on the quest. She frowned at the thought, shooting another arrow. It should never have reached such a state that it did, where she wouldn't even be able to hit a warg in the heart - or at least a vulnerable spot. She shook her head, frustrated with herself for losing her nerve, and thus her aim.

"What is it that you strive so hard to reach, my lady?" Elladan called out, startling her as she was about to draw another arrow. Turning around, she saw him standing there with a young human man, about twenty years of age, with dark hair, and gray eyes.

She stared at him for a minute, trying to place why he was so familiar, before her eyes widened as she suddenly realized that she was staring at the hidden heir of Isildur. She looked away hastily, realizing that Elladan had been watching her closely. She shrugged awkwardly.

"I wasn't able to shoot as well as I normally would when it was needed most. My shots went wide, and didn't do much damage. I'm trying to prove to myself that I can do it, and trying to get better aim," she explained.

"There is no shame in missing a shot in battle, my Lady," Elladan said gravely. "Estel here has missed many, and most likely will miss many more." The young man swiftly tried to elbow him in the side, but missed as the elf swung gracefully out of the way.

"Yes, and many of those were because you would shove me out of the way because I was in 'danger,'" Estel jeered. "Or because you were jealous and afraid that I would show you up."

Elladan mock-whispered to Celia, "We tried to look after him like any proper brothers would do, and put him out of the way of arrows aiming for _his_ swollen head, and he thinks it was because we were jealous!" He shook his head. "Be glad if you do not have any siblings, my lady. They cause much trouble."

Celia chuckled. "Yeah, I actually have a twin sister, so... I know exactly what you mean. But why are you calling me 'my Lady,' Elladan? I thought I asked you to call me Celia. And I already told you about my sister."

Elladan paused for a minute before laughing suddenly. "Perhaps that is because I am not Elladan. It would seem that you have met my twin brother already." He bowed. "I am Elrohir, brother of Elladan, and this young imp here," he said, rustling Estel's hair, who merely rolled his eyes.

Celia blushed. "My apologies, then, Lord Elrohir. I clearly mistook you for your brother. I'm Celia Owens."

Elrohir shook his head. "Please, call me Elrohir. I'm not offended by it." He grinned. "Indeed, we oftentimes try to fool people, and yours was an innocent mistake. But, if I am not mistaken, your name is somewhat different from how your people usually introduce themselves."

Celia rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. Me and my sister were raised by humans in a place... er, somewhere very far away from here, and ended up here by accident, until we were taken in by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins."

"Bilbo Baggins is here?" Estel grinned suddenly. "I'm gonna go see him. I've heard a lot about him, and I want to meet this hobbit that everyone's been talking about." He bowed to Celia. "If you'll excuse me, Lady Celia."

She inclined her head at him. "Please, call me Celia. And you'll probably find Bilbo somewhere in the library."

"Thank you," he said, bowing again before running out of the training field.

Elrohir shook his head and laughed. "He likes to act all grown-up, but inside he is still little more than a child."

"Sounds like you, brother mine," an identical voice called out. Celia turned around to see Elladan walking towards them, a bow and quiver in hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elrohir feigned hurt. "If anything, you're the one who acts like an elfling."

"And I suppose I was the one to blame what happened to Glorfindel's hair on Estel?" his brother countered.

"No, but _I_ certainly wasn't the one to mess up Ada's study and blame it on _me_ for letting the horses inside!" his brother quickly returned, Celia getting slightly dizzy at the quick back and forth between the two identical elves.

"It seems to me like you're both acting like elflings," she chuckled, making them turn to look at her as if suddenly remembering she was there.

"He started it!" They both cried, pointing at the other.

Celia snorted. "I'm beginning to feel like you're the elvish version of Fíli and Kíli," she muttered. "I really hope you never meet."

"Fíli and Kíli," one of them mused - they'd moved around while talking, and now she wasn't sure which one was which. "Are they the young dwarrow with golden and black hair?"

Celia nodded. "Why? Have you already met?" She asked, almost dreading the answer.

"No," came the reply. "But we saw their handiwork - one of the other dwarrow woke up this morning with his bag completely covered in some sort of material that made it impossible to open. Those two names were the first he shouted. Then another name - Nori, I think?"

Celia giggled. "Did it happen to the bald warrior with the axes?" They nodded. Celia snorted. "They pranked Dwalin. The first day we're not on the run for our lives, and they prank Dwalin. Oh, they're going to regret that."

One of them shrugged. "I don't know about that. They laughed and ran out of the room - I believe they're hiding around here somewhere."

The other twin chuckled. "I believe I want to meet these dwarrow after all. They seem like just the right people for us."

Celia groaned and sank her head into her hands, ignoring the twins' laughter. "So, what's the bow for?" she asked at last, indicating the bow which had been set on the ground.

One of them shrugged. "I thought I'd come out here and shoot with you. It's always better to have somebody to practice with."

She eyed him. "And you're... Elladan, right?"

The twin struck a hand to his chest. "You wound me, Lady Celia. I thought that after this morning, I would have been irreplaceably stuck in your memory."

The other instantly struck the same pose. "How could you fail to tell us apart by now? Elrohir is obviously the impractical, childish one."

"And Elladan is clearly the foolish one who is jealous of his brother's skills," the other retorted.

She rolled her eyes. "You're definitely Elladan," she told the second twin, who looked crestfallen that she had seen through their tricks. "My sister and I, though not identical, looked fairly similar when we were younger, and often tried the same tricks on people." She eyed him. "Including the one where we insult ourselves to appear to be the other one."

The other twin laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up, 'Dan, it's not every day we find someone who's wise to our tricks the first time they meet us."

Elladan shrugged. "Fair enough. Well met, Lady Celia, and congratulations on seeing through our ploy. Having matched wits, shall we now match our bows?"

She smiled. "Why not? You'll probably beat me, but it'll be fun to have someone besides Kíli to practice with."

"Master Kíli is the other young archer with your group, is he not?" Elladan asked, joining her by the firing line and swinging his quiver onto his back.

Celia nodded, drawing another arrow. "Yep, that's him. And he's the only one I knew of, besides myself, before arriving here, who preferred archery as his main weapon. And we couldn't practice very much while traveling, so it's good to get back into it here."

They practiced for several hours, Elrohir occasionally switching out with his brother, and more often watching on the sideline and making wisecracks about his brother's talent, or lack thereof. They had just finished another round, and were gathering their arrows when they heard a call from by the buildings.

"Celia! There you are!" her sister called, hurrying towards them and closely followed by Fíli and Kíli, a somewhat serious look on their normally jovial faces. "Where were you?" Elena demanded, ignoring the twins. "When I got up this morning, you were gone! And the only reason I knew where you were was because your quiver was gone, and someone told me they had seen you come this way."

"Then what took you so long?" Celia asked, tilting her head to the side and grinning mischievously. "You didn't get lost, did you?"

"No," her sister huffed. "I got dragged into a practice match with Dwalin. He wanted me to get more practice in, and since _some_ people," she emphasized, glaring at the brothers behind her, who grinned innocently, "who shall remain nameless irritated him; I had to let him take it out on me so he didn't murder anyone who might _actually_ deserve it!"

"Oh, calm down, Elena," Fíli said cheerfully, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "Dwalin would never try to hurt a lady, even one like you. Now, us, on the other hand... we wouldn't have been safe until he calmed down, so you really did us a service."

Elena just glared more fiercely at him, and swiftly elbowed him in the side. "What do you mean, a lady like me? And I had no interest in being your scapegoat. As a matter of fact, I think Dwalin is even more mad at you now, because he knows what you did. And that's not even counting what I'm going to do to you!"

Fíli quickly backed off, both hands raised in the air. "Uh, I do believe I see my mistake now. In fact, I think I need to go do... something important... way over there... somewhere. Farewell, Celia!" He called, turning and running, chased by her sister, threatening to push him in one of the many fountains. The rest of the group watched them in amusement.

"Should we... do something?" Kíli asked, not bothering to hide his grin.

Celia snorted and shook her head. "I think you should just be grateful that most of her wrath has passed to Fíli, and not you. When she said she was going to try and push Fíli into a pool, she wasn't kidding." A large splash a moment later seemed to give truth to her words, until...

"Are you kidding me?" her sister shouted, the sounds of Fíli's laughter filling the air. "How did I fall in? I was behind you!" Celia's mouth twitched. A loud yelp followed by another splash and Elena's cry of satisfaction were too much, and she doubled over laughing, quickly followed by Kíli.

"Yes, it would seem that there is much in common between us," Elrohir remarked, a smile on his lips.

"Oh, I hope not," Celia moaned, standing upright and wiping a tear of laughter from her eyes. "It's bad enough with the two of them," she jerked a thumb at Kíli.

"We're not that bad," Kíli protested indignantly.

She eyed him a minute. "Yes, you are. And apparently the twin sons of Lord Elrond are just as bad."

Kíli's gaze cooled a bit as he turned to the elves, but he was still polite as he introduced himself. "I am Kíli, Son of Dis."

The elves grew slightly cooler in their turn as they returned the greeting. "Elladan and Elrohir Elrondion." Celia frowned, noticing the change in atmosphere and, crossing her arms, decided she was not going to deal with it today.

"All right. Have any of you met the other before today?" They turned to her in surprise, but all answered in the negative. She narrowed her eyes. "Then I expect you all to be as friendly to each other as you were to me when you met me. None of you has done any harm or insult to the other, and based on your reactions to me when we met, you're both capable of being much nicer. And you all like being royal pains, so you've got that in common, why not use that as your middle ground, instead of the grievances of your kin?"

Kíli seemed to think about it for a minute before shrugging and agreeing. "I'll be spending more time with her than with you lot anyways, might as well keep her happy," he said cheerfully. "I'm willing if you are," he said, offering his hand. The twins considered it for a minute before grinning widely themselves.

"We have a sister of our own," Elladan said, shaking his hand. "And I must agree, from years of painful experience, that it is better to keep them happy than otherwise."

Celia rolled her eyes. "Of course. You would agree not because it's the sane thing to do, but because it's to save your own skin."

The males all shared a glance before chorusing, "Of course!"

"Why else would we do it?" Kíli asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Certainly not because we want to know any dwarrow," Elrohir mocked. "They don't know how to have any fun. Like putting honey in their sister's shampoo."

Kíli raised an eyebrow. "And elves definitely have no idea how to have a good time. They don't know the fun of attaching bells to a warrior's clothing in secret places, so that he jingles every time he walks and doesn't know why."

"That's actually a good idea," Elladan conceded, turning to his brother. "We should try it with Glorfindel sometime." He turned back to Kíli. "Want to help us prank one of the most esteemed warriors among us?"

Kíli grinned mischievously. "I only ask that you wait for Fíli. He'll want to help."

Celia groaned and buried her head in her hands. "I've doomed us all."

* * *

 **A/N: So... I'm not dead... Just buried under a load of work, in addition to starting EMT training, and trying to prepare frantically for that.** **I apologize if there are any major spelling/grammar mistakes in this chapter. I just got home from a 12hr clinical visit at an emergency department for my EMT training, and I'm wiped. :/  
**

 **Also, we are now over 75,000 words for this story! Woo-hoo! That's a lot! And we haven't even finished the first movie yet...  
**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to naomi. coigligh and E for reviewing! It was great reading your reviews!**

 **Also, just a quick side note, Elladan and Elrohir have the last name 'Elrondion," because they're sons of Elrond, just like Legolas' last name is Thranduilion. Ion means son in Sindarin.(Or Quenyan. I don't know, just that it's elvish.)  
**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR or the Hobbit, they belong to the JRR Tolkien estate.**


	16. Chapter 16 - Two Worlds, One Family

~~Elena~~

The rest of the day passed fairly quietly - too quietly, when it came to the suspicious absence of Fíli and Kíli with the elf twins, but Celia and Elena spent the day exploring, and Elena sketched several beautiful spots in the elf haven that she wanted to remember later on. Bilbo was also absent for most of the day, but as the girls assumed he was in the library with Ori, they made no comment upon it.

That evening, however, was anything but quiet. They had joined the rest of the Company, who were using a chair to make a fire in the middle of the room to roast some sausages.

Nori swaggered up to Bilbo. "So, Mister Baggins, did you meet the terms of our wager, or do you owe me some coins?"

Elena looked up at the thief curiously. "You had a bet with Uncle Bilbo? What about?"

He smirked at her. "I'll tell you all about it in a minute, Lady Elena. I want to count my winnings first."

Bilbo looked up at him innocently. "And what might those winnings be, Master Nori?"

A few of the other dwarves were interested by now, including Dwalin, who was keeping an eye on the situation, while still enjoying some hot meat. The boys, still maintaining an innocent silent that no one fell for, also looked intrigued.

"Oh, you know, the bet concerning how good you are at actually being the Company burglar. Seeing if you were really as good at sneaking as you and Gandalf seem to think you are."

Dwalin was by now looking very interested in the conversation.

Bilbo, struggling to keep his face calm, but a definite look of mischief and triumph in his eyes, said calmly, "How about I show you what I got, and you tell me if I pass or not."

"Deal." Nori said immediately, grinning. "Prepare to pay up."

Bilbo shrugged. "First, since everyone is watching, would you remind me of the terms? Just so everyone knows what's going on."

Nori shrugged. "All right." He turned to the others, most of whom were now very intrigued. "Mister Baggins and I had a little bet. He had to prove he was able to follow Dwalin around all day without being caught, and get something from him to prove it." The guardsman jerked suddenly, looking very startled. "And if he got something, I owed him fifteen silver coins, and an admission that he was better than I thought he'd be."

"You look very unconcerned," Celia remarked, watching him, a sly grin on her face.

"Why should I be?" Nori asked.

Bilbo shrugged, pulling a small bag out of his pocket. "I don't know. Does this mean anything to you?" Nori's eyes immediately widened, while Dwalin suddenly started laughing, getting up and clapping Bilbo on the back, almost sending him sprawling.

"Ha ha, you did it, Burglar. I didn't know if you could, but you did, and I'll admit it!"

Celia wrinkled her brow and leaned over to her sister. "What's he talking about?" Elena frowned and shrugged her shoulders.

"I made a bet with Mister Baggins that he wouldn't be able to steal something from Nori, in exchange for some coins as well," the warrior explained. "But, he proved me wrong, and I'll admit it."

"I proved Nori wrong too," Bilbo spoke up suddenly, holding up another bag. "I thought about taking something from his bag, but that would be a violation of his privacy, and besides. It's still fairly stuck together from whatever Fíli and Kíli covered it with earlier." Dwalin paused from his contemplation of his money bag in Bilbo's hand to glare at the two brothers, who smiled guiltily, edging slightly away out of his reach.

"So... if I am to understand correctly, you made a deal with both of them to steal something from the other, and you did?" Balin asked, hiding a smile under his bushy beard.

Bilbo nodded, tossing the bags back at their respective owners. "They wanted to see how good I was, and I'm not so old as to miss a chance for some friendly mischief, so I agreed."

"And I'll pay up," Dwalin stated, digging in his bag and pulling out some coins, handing them to Bilbo. "You did good, Burglar."

"I have to say that I didn't see that coming," Nori admitted, handing some more to Bilbo. "You're better than I thought you'd be."

"Thank you," he said, taking them quietly and tucking them away. "I'll give this to the elves to pay for the chair you wrecked," he added, eyeing Nori and Bofur in particular, both of whom just grinned and shrugged.

"If you want to waste your hard-earned money on some tree-huggers, I can't say that I agree with it, but that's your loss," Nori declared, a few of the dwarves nodding in agreement.

Bilbo winked at him. "Who's to say that it's my money? I've had access to both of your bags for most of the day. And you were the ones to do the damage, so..." There was a split-second pause as they absorbed his words before they both turned to dig in their bags in consternation, making all the rest of them laugh.

"Never bet against a hobbit when it comes to sneakiness, and definitely never bet against a Took when it comes to mischief," Elena said with a chuckle.

"But I thought your last name was Boggins!" Kíli protested.

Bilbo fixed him with a firm look. "It's _Baggins_ , Kíli, and my mother's family were Tooks. They're the... adventurous side of hobbits, if you will. They're the ones who go on adventures, and talk to wizards and elves, and generally don't act like respectable hobbits. They would be quite proud of me right now, I wager, double-crossing dwarves while hanging out in Rivendell with the most-troublesome wizard known in the Shire."

"Speaking of wizards, where is he anyways?" Celia spoke up.

"The wizard is with Lord Elrond," Thorin said suddenly, making them all jump as he appeared in the doorway. "He says that we shall stay here one more day, and then we will need to be ready to leave at dawn the day after tomorrow. The head of his order, Saruman, will be here by then, and if he finds out about our quest, he will try to stop us. The elves may not agree with us, but they will not hinder us. Saruman, however, is different."

"Why would he care?" Kíli asked, frowning.

Thorin looked at Elena, his dark blue eyes pinning her to her spot, before releasing her and looking around. "For reasons that cannot yet be told. Suffice it to say that we will stay and rest for one more day, but we will be leaving at dawn. So be ready to leave tomorrow night." There was a general mutter of agreement as they started getting ready for bed, Elena and Celia standing up to leave.

"Night, Bilbo," Elena said, giving him a hug. "And good work showing them up. Serves them right for doubting you."

"Thanks," he chuckled, returning the hug. "And I didn't actually take any money. It was just fun letting them think that."

"See you tomorrow," she told the group before heading to her room, followed shortly thereafter by her sister.

Getting ready for bed, she paused as she pulled her arm through the sleeve of her sleep tunic, brushing it against her bracelet as she did so. Looking down at the leather bracelet with the purple bead, she smiled as she thought back to the night Bilbo had given it to her, and a similar one to her sister. Making sure it was still securely tied, she released the tie holding her now shoulder-blade length hair back, and began to run a brush through it.

Putting the brush back in her bag, she looked over at her sister, who had just laid down on her bed without bothering to undo her hair, and already had her eyes closed, dark circles under her eyes. She smiled sadly, eyes darkening slightly. She knew Celia had had nightmares last night. She may have fallen asleep first, but her sleep hadn't been exactly peaceful either, and she had heard her "little" sister tossing and turning when she awoke in the middle of the night.

She sighed, crawling into her bed and closing her eyes wearily, clutching her locket. She hadn't opened it since that night when they first found out what it contained, but it still felt like a piece of home to her. Both of her birth parents, even if she couldn't remember them, and their adopted mother back in their old world, who had spent hours with them making up stories about what they might mean to entertain them, that always had a happy ending.

She still hadn't taken the bead out of it yet, but she probably should. Deciding to ask Balin about it in the morning, she took a deep breath and fell into a calm sleep, still clutching her locket.

The next morning, after a long, painful workout with Dwalin, who grudgingly admitted that she might last all of ten seconds with a semi-skilled warrior, she found her sister and told her what she had thought of last night. After Celia agreed, they found Balin studying some maps in a room close to the library, and asked him if they needed to do anything about their beads. The dwarf lord sighed, looking at them with a solemn expression.

"It would be considered proper for you to wear them, yes. If we were in Erebor, or the Blue Mountains, or the Iron Hills, then you would already have had your beads braided in by your parents. But we are not, and even if we were, your... circumstances were hardly ideal. So I don't believe that anyone would have any objections to you not wearing them before now."

"So... how would we wear them?" Celia asked uncertainly.

Balin tilted his head to the side. "Well, the beads that were in your lockets are your family beads. How and where they are placed show who you are, and what your rank is." He smiled, bringing a warm, grandfatherly look to his face.

"The family beads are typically placed closed to your face. Not everyone has their braids visible. Kíli, for example, sometimes forgets to put his in, or uses his bead in a different place. The beads that Thorin and Fíli, and Kíli, when he remembers, wear show that they are of the line of Durin, and thus heirs to the throne of Erebor. They wear their braids on the right side of their faces to show their status as royalty."

He looked at Elena contemplatively. "Since you and your sister are nobility, you would wear yours on the right side of your face as well. Other braids show your occupation," he explained. "Celia, for example, as a healer, would wear the same type of braid as Oín. But he would wear his healer's bead in a different place, to show that he is a master healer."

Elena nodded thoughtfully, pulling out her locket and staring at it thoughtfully. "Do you think you could help us put them in?" she asked hesitantly.

Balin immediately shook his head. "I'm grateful for the honor that you show me, but it's not my place. Family beads should only be placed by the child's family members. If they're an orphan, or in circumstances relatively similar to yours, where none are available, the leader of the clan would put them in. In your case, seeing as both your parents came from Erebor, Thorin would be the proper person to place them in your hair."

"Oh." Elena said, somewhat disconcerted. While Thorin had never been rude or disrespectful to them, he did have a somewhat forbidding personality, and they _had_ kind of just talked back in a really not-very-polite way just the other day.

Balin chuckled softly, seeming to sense their thoughts. "He's really not so bad. He may come across as stern, but he's always been like that, even as a child. If you ask him, he will do it."

Elena looked at her sister, seeing the same reluctance in her eyes that she was feeling. "All right. We'll ask him, I guess," she said reluctantly.

Balin chuckled again. "You don't have to do it now. No one will fault you if you wait to have your braids put in."

Elena shook her head. "No, we might as well do it now. Thank you for your advice," she added as they turned to leave.

"Of course. And I believe that Thorin would most likely be in either the main room, the music room, or in the halls," Balin called after them.

"Thank you!" Celia called back. "Why do you think he said the halls?" She said in a lower voice to her sister as they headed towards the room where the dwarves were staying.

Elena shrugged, before laughing as a thought came to her. "Maybe he's wandering the halls brooding?" she suggested.

Celia snorted. "He's not brooding, he's... contemplating."

"Contemplating what?" Elena countered.

Celia snickered. "I don't know. Book titles? '101 Ways to Brood Majestically,' by Thorin Oakenshield. He could make a mint."

Elena shook her head, stifling her laughter. "We better end this line of conversation before it veers into too dangerous of a territory. Plus, I think I hear someone in that room up there. Maybe it's him?"

"We can check, at least," Celia said amiably. Walking up to the door, she peered into the doorway before turning back to her sister, a strange expression on her face. "He's in here. And it's the music room," she whispered.

"Well, go in, then," Elena hissed back, pushing her in and following her into the room. Thorin was standing by the far side of the room, studying one of the harps on a table. He looked up when they came in.

"Lady Elena, Lady Celia. What brings you here?" he greeted them.

"Uh, we were wondering if you could, um...helpuswithourbeads." Celia said, blurting out the last part of the sentence in a muted rush. He blinked, taken aback by the speed but unable to make out what she had said.

"Sorry," she apologized, blushing. "We were wondering if you could help us put the beads in our hair. We asked Balin about them, but he said that it wouldn't be proper for him to do it, and as the leader of our clan, or whatever, since our parents weren't here, we should ask you for help."

"Ah." A look of comprehension appeared on his face. "I will admit to wondering if you had forgotten. Has Balin told you what they mean?" he asked, moving towards them.

"Yeah. We asked him," Elena answered, looking down at the locket hanging loosely on the front of her tunic. "They represent what family we belong to, our ranking, or whatever, and other beads can also show our occupation."

He looked at them both seriously. "Are you certain you wish to do this now? There is no shame in waiting if you are not ready."

Elena tilted her head. "They were a gift from our parents, right?" She looked over at her sister and shrugged. "If that's all we have left of our birth parents, then it would be nice to acknowledge them in some way, even if we were raised by someone else."

Celia nodded, a serious look on her normally happy face. "I agree. We would both appreciate it if you could braid our family beads in for us, Master Thorin."

Thorin looked them both in the eyes, comprehending their seriousness before nodding. "As you wish, then. Do you wish to be seated?"

Elena stuttered, before realizing that it'd probably be easier that way for both of them and nodding. "Sure," she agreed, kneeling on the floor, her sister following a moment later.

Thorin seated himself in front of her. "Do you have your bead?"

Elena nodded again, holding up her locket before hesitating, forgetting how to open it. "Uh... I... can't remember how to open it. Sorry," she muttered, looking down.

He shook his head, his lips twitching in what might have been a smile, though of compassion, not of amusement or derision. "It is alright, Lady Elena. If you like, I could open it for you," he suggested.

She nodded. "Can you show me how to open it again?"

"Of course." Carefully lifting up her locket, he slowly showed her the right areas to press that would open the locket, revealing the engraving, portrait, and small purple bead with silver runes.

Pulling out the bead, he closed the locket and handed it back to her. "Will you hold the bead, Lady Celia?" he asked Celia. She agreed, taking the bead and holding it carefully in her hand. "Are you ready?" Thorin asked, turning to Elena.

She nodded, licking her suddenly dry lips. "Yeah. I mean, yes. Er, what side are you going to put it on? Do I need to turn, or something?"

"No, I am able to braid it just as well here," he told her. "Lady Celia, if you wish, you may watch, so that you are able to rebraid your sister's hair later, when it needs to be redone, as you are her only family member present at this time." Celia nodded, readjusting her seat so that she had a clear view of what Thorin was doing.

Starting at the top of her head, Thorin lifted a section of hair and divided it into three parts, braiding it across over to the right side of her head, braiding in more hair as he did so, finally tying it off with the bead shortly above her right shoulder. "It is complete," he said a moment later, sitting back so Celia could see better.

She leaned in, examining the finished product. "Wow. That looks really pretty, El. It's almost like a headband, only prettier, and it displays the bead really well." Elena carefully felt along her head. The braid felt far more secure than any she normally did, even with loads of bobby pins; but then again, she supposed a dwarf king with over a hundred years of experience would probably be able to do a decent braid.

She smiled. "Thank you, Master Thorin. I really appreciate it."

He smiled at her, a real, proper smile. "Of course. It was my pleasure." He turned to her sister. "Lady Celia? Would you like me to place your family braid now?"

She nodded, pulling out her locket, and slowly repeated Thorin's actions; opening the locket and pulling out the bead. Placing it in Thorin's hand, she closed the locket, and left it hanging in front of her tunic like her sister. Pulling her hair out of her braid and shaking it loose, she sat in front of him, trying to make it easier for him to braid. Giving her bead to Elena to hold, Thorin began doing the same type of braid on Celia's hair.

"So... does everyone get braids like that?" Elena asked, watching him curiously. He shook his head, still focusing on Celia's hair, and somehow managing to look every bit as regal sitting on the floor of an elvish realm, braiding someone's hair, as he did in full battle garb.

"This braid is only for dwarrowdams who are among the nobility," he explained. "Dwarrows have a different braid. Your braids show your status as Ladies, and your beads tell what family you belong to. Fíli and Kíli's braids show their status as royalty and heirs to the throne, while their beads show that they belong to the line of Durin, the first king of the dwarves, and more specifically, sons of Dis, daughter of Thrain."

Elena nodded. "Okay. That makes sense."

Finishing the braid a few minutes later, Thorin took the bead from Elena's hand and tied off the braid, the bead hanging halfway down Celia's chest and leaving more hair free below. "There. Your braids are finished. If any dwarrow were to meet you, they would know you to be Ladies of Erebor."

Celia looked up at him and smiled, carefully feeling her braid. "Thank you. It, uh... feels nice." He smiled, getting to his feet and helping her up before doing the same to her sister.

"Of course. I was glad to be of assistance." He paused. "I do not mean to be rude, but I am afraid I must leave you now. There are matters that I must discuss with Balin before we are to leave tomorrow morn."

They both nodded, instantly stepping out of his way. "No, please. Sorry. Go right ahead. And thank you again for helping us," Elena said hastily.

He nodded slowly. "Please, do not hesitate to come to me if you have any more concerns or questions about your heritage. I wish to help you as much as I am able now, since I could not before." He inclined his head towards them in a bow before leaving, a somber yet dignified expression back on his face.

Celia blew out a breath as soon as she was sure he was gone. "Well... now I feel kind of bad for poking fun at him in the hallway," she muttered.

Elena snorted. "Me too," she admitted. "He can brood like nobody's business, but he really is trying to be a good king."

"He already is a good king," her sister pointed out. "He may not admit it, but he cares about each and every one of us, even Bilbo."

Elena couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah. Bilbo's just getting the 'tough love' treatment."

Celia joined in her laugh. "Yeah, you're probably right. He can't show any favorites."

Elena nodded mock seriously. "Cause Uncle Bilbo's definitely up on that list."

Celia chuckled, walking forward among the room and examining the instruments she hadn't really had time to see earlier. There were harps, lutes, flutes, violins, and even what looked like elvish versions of pianos, if a bit smaller. She ran her fingers over the keys, smiling at the melody that trickled out.

"Oh, that's beautiful," she said, looking over the delicate artwork. Elena tilted her head at her sister, recognizing her desire to just... play, to let her fingers run over the keys and let the music flow out of her.

"Do you want to just stay here for a while?" she asked.

Celia looked up, a hopeful look in her eyes. "Do you?"

Elena smiled. "Sure. It'll be nice to take a break from the woes of the road for a while, and I know that you haven't been able to play the piano for a long time, so I'll just grab my sketchbook and work on some stuff while you play. It'll be a mini-vacation."

Celia smiled brightly. "Really?"

Her twin couldn't help but laugh. "Really. You start warming up, or whatever, and I'll go grab my sketchbook. I'll be right back."

Darting out of the room, she hurried back to the room they were staying in and began digging through her bag. Grabbing her sketchbook and the small container she kept her drawing materials in, she made her way back to her sister, who was picking out small scales on the piano. Finding a comfortable spot along the wall, she set up her materials and opened up her book to a blank page. Pulling out a sharp drawing pencil, she closed her eyes and tried to think of the right thing to draw.

Opening them, her eyes fell on the bracelet on her wrist that Bilbo had made for her birthday last year, and the purple bead braided into it. The bead that now matched the one in her hair, that said the same thing in a different tongue.

That she belonged. That she was part of a family.

Family...

Her eyes lit up. She knew what she wanted to draw now. Bending over her paper, she quickly began to sketch out the rough outlines as her sister began to softly play a melody in the background, her gentle voice providing a harmonious addition to the song.

Several hours later, she closed her eyes and stretched, somehow feeling more tired and drained now than she had after her training session with Dwalin. Her sister, who had been seated at the piano and playing a classical melody, noticed that she was done, and got up, curious to see what she had drawn. Leaning over her sister's shoulder, her eyes went soft and she smiled.

Elena had drawn their mother on one side of the page, a hand on Elena's shoulder, both dressed in modern clothing. On the other side was Bilbo, an arm around Celia's shoulder, both dressed in the clothing they had worn back in the Shire, the bracelets from Bilbo around their wrists. Both girls wore their new dwarvish braids, and had their lockets hanging out in front of their clothes. At the top, she had written, 'Two Worlds, One Family.'

Celia chuckled. "Tarzan. I like it."

Elena shrugged. "It seemed to fit. Both worlds form our home, and both of them make up our family. It's not one or the other of them; it's both."

Celia nodded, smiling as she looked over the picture. "I like it. I really like it. You did an amazing job," she complimented her sister.

Elena smiled shyly. "Thanks. I'm just glad I was able to draw what I was picturing in my head. Especially the braids. I just kind of had to go with what I had seen of your braid, since I haven't seen mine yet."

Celia shrugged. "Well, it looks plenty accurate to me." She sighed, staring at the drawing of their absent mother. "I still miss her," she murmured.

Elena swallowed and nodded. "Me too," she whispered. "Just remember... even if we can't see her right now, she's still our mother. And we won't forget her. Ever."

Celia nodded, standing back up. "I think I'm going to go for a walk. You want to come?"

Elena shook her head, knowing that she wanted to be alone after the memories the picture had drug up, and sensing that she had asked more out of politeness than desire.

"No. I have something else that I want to draw. I think I'll just find a garden to draw in. You go on ahead."

Celia nodded, her lack of protest showing her need to think by herself for a while. Making sure that all the instruments were in their proper place, she waved and headed out of the room.

Watching her leave, Elena sighed, her eyes sad and her heart heavy. She hoped the music had helped, but Celia had always been the more emotional one of the two of them, and the loss of their mother was still a fairly fresh wound for the both of them, the more so as they never really talked about it, choosing to try to forget the pain as opposed to actually discussing it. Grabbing her materials, she headed out of the door in a different direction than her sister, trying to find a calm and peaceful spot to relax.

Finding a garden that had a small fountain bubbling softly in the center, and a bench off to the side, she sat down and spread out her materials. Turning to the next page, she held her pen over the paper, and hesitated, wondering what to draw now. Glancing back at the last page, both proud of what she had been able to draw, and saddened by the memories it evoked, she paused as a memory of another family came to mind. Smiling softly, she bent her head over the paper and began to draw.

xXx

Finally dropping her pencil with a sigh, she looked up from her page and jumped when she saw Fíli sitting beside her, looking at her curiously. "Oh, my goodness, you scared me!" She exclaimed, holding a hand to her chest where she could feel her heart beating faster. The dwarf prince looked at her oddly.

"I did? But I've been sitting next to you for the past ten minutes. You even said 'hi,' when I greeted you."

Elena flushed, not having any recollection of that moment. "I did? Um... sorry. I don't remember that. I must have answered you subconsciously, or something."

Fíli grinned. "I wondered if you really knew I was there. You didn't look up at all, and you agreed with me that it would be a great idea to push you into the pool again when I suggested it."

Elena narrowed her eyes at him. "I must have misheard, and thought you suggested pushing yourself in, instead. Now, _that's_ an idea I'd agree to."

Fíli wrinkled his nose. "I don't see how you could have got that idea, considering that I never even so much as hinted at that."

Elena shrugged innocently. "Maybe it was already there in my subconscious, and you just solidified it."

It was Fíli's turn to narrow his eyes at her, but he couldn't keep up the charade for long, and he soon started chuckling, which made Elena break down and join him as well.

"I don't think that pushing each other into pools was exactly what your uncle had in mind when he agreed to let us join him," she pointed out a minute later, still chuckling a little.

Fíli shrugged. "He probably half expected it, to be honest. At least, he probably expected it from me and Kíli. Maybe not so much from two dwarrowdams from another world."

Elena shook her head, smiling. Shifting in her seat, her sketchbook started to slide down her lap. Catching it, she started to close it, only for Fíli to stop her.

"Can I see what you drew?" he asked curiously, catching himself a moment later. "That is, if it wouldn't bother you. I know that some artists don't like to show much of their art to anyone."

She shook her head again. "No. You can look through it. Most of it's just unfinished sketches, but there are some more that I'm somewhat proud of," she admitted as Fíli took the book and started to flip through it.

"I can see why," he told her, stopping at the picture of the dwarf woman she had drawn so long ago, back in Bag End. "Who's this?" he asked, a strange tone in his voice.

Elena craned her neck to look at the picture, then shrugged, blushing a little. "I-I'm not sure, actually. I had a dream where she was talking to me and Celia when we were little girls, and I wanted to remember it when I woke up, so I drew her before I could forget it. I wrote the word 'Amad' above it, because that's what we called her in my dream. I don't know if that was her real name, or not, though."

"Amad means 'mother' in our tongue," Fíli told her quietly, watching her eyes widen as she absorbed the news.

"What? But that- then is that -" she stopped. "Do you - are you - do you think that that was our mother?"

Fíli shrugged. "I don't know. I never met Lady Samara. But if you were little, and that's what you called her, it's entirely possible that she could be your birth mother. There are certainly similarities in your features. Balin might know more." He paused. Seeing the disconcerted look on her face, he continued gently. "Would you rather wait until a later time?"

She nodded gratefully. "I'm still trying to reconcile our old world and the Shire. I don't think I could add another bit of trouble to the mix right now."

Fíli nodded. "I understand." Carefully turning the pages, he changed the subject to a lighter topic, though he stopped when he came to the picture that Elena had drawn earlier with Celia. "I forgot to congratulate you on your new braid earlier. It looks fitting on you, and your sister." He smiled, though it fell when he flipped to the last page.

Elena had drawn him shortly after he nearly drowned several weeks earlier, sitting on the cave floor with a blanket around his shoulders. Thorin was kneeling down beside him, one arm around him, and the other around Kíli, all three leaning in, their foreheads touching gently. Water from the rain and the river dropped from their hair, contrasting with the fire burning in the background. There was a mixture of confusion, pain, and peace on his face. Kíli's radiated happiness and relief, while Thorin's showed a mixture of worry and relief, concern for both his nephews mixing with joy that they were alive.

Fíli smiled again, looking at the picture fondly. "I suppose I should thank you again for what you did that day," he murmured.

Elena shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no, no. I didn't draw that for you to thank me, or anything. I just drew it because, well... I was thinking of families, and that moment kind of stuck out to me. You can keep it if you want," she offered awkwardly, seeing the way he kept looking over it.

He looked up at her. "Really? You don't mind?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No. It's your family, after all."

He grinned, his blue eyes lighting up. "Thank you, Elena. I am very grateful for this gift." Carefully tearing it out of the book, he held it gently in one hand and stood up, offering his other hand to her to help her up.

"Shall we return to the dining hall? I believe the food will be ready soon, and we should probably sleep early if we are to leave shortly after dawn. That was actually why I came here in the first place, before I got distracted."

Elena smiled at him, fiddling nervously with her new braid, an action she wouldn't be surprised to see turn into a habit. "You go on ahead. I have to drop off my stuff in my room first. Meet you there?"

He grinned widely, the beads in his braids clacking against each other as he bowed to her, bringing a fist to his chest. "You have my solemn vow, my lady," he teased. Elena snorted and shook her head, watching him leave, a blush rising to her cheeks. She would never admit it to anyone, but maybe, just maybe... she was sort of, almost, possibly just a little bit attracted to Fíli, Son of Dis.

* * *

 **A/N: In which Elena is finally, maybe, sort of, a little bit feeling something for a certain blond-haired prince. I figured it was time for her to at least start to admit it to herself, anyways. Also, they finally got their beads in! This is a bit of a gray area, so... I'm kind of making it up as I go. Hope everyone's OK with how I wrote it.**

 **Also, I totally forgot to make this clear earlier, so I'm just gonna say it now: This story is going to be an AU, and will also be timeline deviant. So, at some point, (not now) we will be seeing people like Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin when we canonically should not be. :) That'd be much later on, though. So, if you see things that aren't quite technically accurate, let's just blame it on the AU (and not the author who totally blanked on her Tolkien trivia that she was so proud of).  
**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to E, Al, ColdOnePaul, and ro781727 for reviewing!  
**

 ** _ColdOnePaul: I'm glad to hear that. Hopefully you like this one, too! ;)  
_**

 ** _Al: That's always good to hear. I love getting reviews from all of you :)  
_**

 ** _ro781727: Just a smidge. ;) That's why I picked him. Nobody would really believe that two young women would fall for someone who's like a grandfather to them, and, further, isn't even in the character selection. So no worries on that front! Balin will not be interfering with any love plots. ;) Besides. When - I mean, if I kill off Fíli or Kíli, it will be much more dramatic then just drowning.  
_**

 ** _E: Yeah, Saruman is a sneaky wizard. Best not to trust him. And yes... Celia now has anxiety thanks to the twins and Kíli. Rivendell will still be standing, it just might be covered in sticky material, lol. Thanks for reviewing! They're always thoughtful, kind, and encouraging! *And I hope you like the little bit of romance that's starting to bloom ;)*_**

 **Thank you all so much, and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: Tolkien was probably way more punctual with his writing than I am. I am not the skilled writer that he is, sadly enough. Elena and Celia are all mine, though!**


	17. Chapter 17 - The Misty Mountains

~~Celia~~

They set out early the next morning on ponies borrowed to them by the elves on condition that they be released once they reached the Misty Mountains. It was early enough that Celia gave up on trying to brush through her hair, and just piled it into a very messy bun on top of her head, unwilling to have to deal with it at such an early hour.

Though Kíli quirked an eyebrow when he saw her, he gave no sign of amusement other than his twitching lips as he helped her onto their pony. He did, however, compliment her on her new braid, which was somewhat visible in her bun, and somehow was miraculously still intact after the tossing and turnings of the night before.

The journey was fairly quiet for the next hour or two, as everyone in the company seemed to be feeling the earliness of the hour - everyone, that is, except for Kíli, Nori, and perhaps Fíli.

"Why are you so cheerful?" Celia moaned, leaning her head against Kíli's back. "The _birds_ are barely awake yet. Why are you?"

He just laughed.

"He's always been like that," Fíli told her, stifling a yawn. "I always believed that it was just so he could jump onto my bed and wake me up. You know, being the typical little brother."

Celia shook her head, not lifting it from Kíli's back. "It's not a little sibling thing. I'm completely exhausted. I don't know why you're like that," she grumbled, poking him in the back. "Unless... no. You are!" She gasped in horror, her eyes wide in a bleary, dazed sort of way. "You're a morning person!" she declared with disgust.

"A what?" he asked, the laughter evident in his voice.

"You know. A morning person. Someone who likes getting up early, and is wide awake as soon as they get up. El and I are night owls - we prefer to stay up later, and it takes us longer to wake up."

"If you wake up at all, apparently," Fíli said meaningfully, glancing behind him with a smile.

Celia frowned, turning to look, only to snort as she saw her twin leaning against Fíli's back, sound asleep. "How long has she been asleep?"

"Since shortly after we left Rivendell," Kíli informed her. "We actually placed bets on whether or not you were going to fall asleep too, but it hasn't happened - yet."

"She must like you, Fíli, if she's willing to trust you enough to fall asleep on you. That, or you're really boring," Celia smirked, before turning to his brother. "What's your bet?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "I could see the bags under your eyes. But I've also gotten to know you. If left to your own devices, I bet that you'd fall asleep quickly. But you're also stubborn enough that you'd stay awake just to spite someone, if you wanted."

She smiled sleepily, her eyes heavy. "Well, you're not wrong on that count. Count yourself lucky, I guess. You win a bet, and I get some more sleep. So try not to ride crazy today, please?"

The dark-haired prince snorted. "As if I would do that to someone who's trying to sleep - particularly when they asked so nicely. No, I'll wait until you're starting to wake up before I set off into a gallop - that should wake you up very quickly."

She shrugged slightly. "Okay. I'm so tired right now I don't even care anymore. Wake me up when we reach Erebor."

"Go to sleep, Celia," Kíli told her gently. "We'll wake you up when we stop, or if there's any sign of trouble."

He said more, but Celia had already closed her eyes, and started to drift off. Somewhere, a distant part of her brain pointed out that she must trust Kíli enough to fall asleep on him while riding a horse too, but it was quickly lost as she fell asleep.

She woke an uncertain amount of time later with a start before realizing that she was still on the pony, and relaxing, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Where are we?" she asked groggily, feeling much better now that she'd gotten more sleep.

"Still traveling," Kíli told her, sounding amused. "Are you finally awake this time?"

She frowned, rubbing her eyes with her hand. "What?"

"He means that you woke up several times and almost immediately fell back asleep," a new voice said. She looked over to see Elena, sitting upright behind Fíli and smirking at her. "I woke up at least an hour ago."

"And you slept for a full three before that," Fíli reminded her. "Whereas my poor brother and I had to stay awake the whole time to ensure that you didn't fall off the ponies."

Celia raised an eyebrow. "Would you really rather that our positions had been switched, and that _we_ had been steering the ponies? Because that probably wouldn't have ended that well."

"Excuse you," her sister sounded offended. "I know how to ride a pony. And a horse for that matter. If I ended up steering us off a cliff, it would have been deliberate - not an accident."

"Suddenly, I'm glad that I'm the one steering," Fíli deadpanned.

Elena snickered, then turned to her sister. "Hey, Cel, look at that," she pointed at an object in the distance.

Celia sat up, peering around Kíli to see the pointed shapes of mountains in the distance. "Are - are those the Misty Mountains?" She asked, awe in her voice.

Kíli nodded. "And home of the dwarf kingdom of Moria - Khazad-dûm in our tongue. Someday, it will be ours once again. Maybe after we reclaim Erebor, we can turn to Moria."

Celia bit her lip and looked at her sister, who was frowning. If events followed the same pattern as the books, or even the movies, then Moria would be the future resting place of Balin, Ori, and Óin, all killed in an attempt to reclaim Moria from the goblins. Whether or not it was ever truly retaken, they did not know.

"Maybe we should focus on the kingdom with the, you know, dragon in it first, before moving onto any other big projects?" she suggested, forcing her tone to sound light.

The brothers chuckled and agreed, Bilbo moving his pony back towards them as they did so, looking somewhat more comfortable with his pony now.

"So, you're finally awake, then, Celia?" he asked teasingly.

Celia groaned. "Don't you start, too. Yes, I'm awake, and, actually, I feel much more awake now than I did before. So... it was probably for the best."

Bilbo nodded, his lips twitching. "I'm sure. I've seen you when you were sleep deprived, and it's a much happier situation for everyone involved when you're asleep."

"Hey!" she protested indignantly as the others snickered. She finally sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I just got more sleep than the rest of you, and you're just jealous. Except for Elena. She's just lazy."

Bífur, who was riding nearby, laughed and muttered something to Bofur, who chuckled and nodded. "Bífur says that neither of you are lazy, you're actually the smart ones making the most of a bad situation, getting as much sleep as you can." He eyed the two boys with a smirk. "He also says that it's the mark of a wise warrior, to catch up on your sleep when you can, storing up your energy."

The two boys immediately started protesting.

"We were being gentlemen, letting the ladies get enough sleep," Fíli protested.

"And I could hardly let Celia steer the pony!" Kíli added.

Celia shrugged. "It's not like I want to, anyways. This way, if they go out of control, I can blame Kíli. He's older, so it would be his fault anyways..."

Elena nodded sagely. "She's right. As the older one, it's automatically his fault."

"Hey!" Kíli objected immediately.

Fíli snorted. "Ha! Now you finally know what it feels like to not get off scot-free!"

His younger brother pouted. "Amad never let me get off scot-free, and you know it. She always seemed to know who did it."

The blond prince shook his head. "I wasn't talking about her. I was talking about Uncle, and Dwalin."

Kíli sagged. "You... may have a point," he admitted.

Elena just shook her head, smiling. Turning to Bífur, she hesitated, then slowly made the gesture that Bofur had told them meant "thank you." She wasn't sure if she had done it right, but judging by the smile on his face, he had gotten the message.

Bofur nodded approvingly. "You still remember it then."

Elena shrugged. "I guess?"

Bífur turned to his cousin and said something to him that sounded something like a suggestion.

Bofur turned back to the girls. "Would you be interested in continuing your lesson? We'll likely be traveling through lunch. Thorin wants to make up on lost time."

Celia pursed her lips and thought about it before wagging her head to the side thoughtfully. "I don't know... I think our schedule might be pretty full today, what do you think, Elena?"

Her twin patted her lips with a finger. "Hmm. Maybe after the riding, but before we start riding again?" she suggested.

Celia nodded approvingly. "But we have to make sure we leave enough time for riding, remember," she pointed out. She turned to Bofur, who had been watching them with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose we can make time for it," she said airily.

"Well, I'm glad for that, your ladyship," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I would hate to distract you from your riding." Bilbo shook his head, and rode forward, starting a conversation in a low voice with Nori, who had become somewhat alarmingly friendly with him after the events of the other night. "If your ladyships are willing, we could get started now," Bofur said, watching them in amusement, bringing their attention back to him.

"All right, Sir!" Celia said, snapping to attention and saluting. "Your student is ready and eager to learn, Sir! What are we learning today, Sir?"

He eyed her for a minute, noticing how Elena was stifling a smile, and shook his head. "I don't know this 'Sir' you keep talking about, but we might as well focus on beginning phrases and sentences."

"Like 'hello' or 'goodbye?'" Celia asked.

Bofur shrugged. "Sure. Or, you know, phrases like, 'Thank you Bofur, you're the most excellent teacher ever, and I should pay you for the time you're taking for this,' you know, something like that."

Bífur narrowed his eyes at him and said something, along with some signs that made both Fíli and Kíli choke, and Bofur glare at him indignantly.

"I can't teach them that, they're ladies! And besides, it's insulting! I am not... that! He turned to the princes. "And I'm surprised you even know that phrase. It's not exactly princely talk."

Kíli immediately pointed at his brother. "He's the oldest, so it's his fault!"

Fíli shook his head. "We're almost grown, Bofur. We've been in battles before. Not to mention that we grew up with Dwalin - and he didn't always know we were around."

"So, as much fun as the pass the blame game is, maybe we should skip the... less than polite words?" Elena suggested. "I don't think that Bilbo would approve of us learning them, let alone Balin or Master Thorin."

Celia frowned as they all paused. "What?"

Bofur glanced at the two princes before saying uncertainly, "It's not that we've got anything against Bilbo, you understand. He's a clever fellow, and he puts up with a lot without complaining. It's just that... well..."

"We're protective of our secrets," Kíli said bluntly. "Almost no one outside of Gandalf, and maybe a really old elf, or someone like that, knows it besides us. We're shunned by other races, and so we keep to ourselves. Only a few outsiders have ever been trusted enough to be taught the language. While we can teach you, and it'd be fine, since you're dwarrowdams, Bilbo's not a dwarrow. It'd be up to Thorin whether or not we could teach him," he explained.

"And Bilbo hasn't proven himself to Thorin yet," Celia realized.

Kíli nodded. "While you aren't even really learning Khuzdul yet, just Iglishmêk, it's still a fairly secret part of dwarrow life, so it would be considered... out of bounds, so to speak, to teach or even show it to someone who's not yet proven." He shook his head. "I don't entirely know why it's that way, but it's always been that way, since long before I was born."

Elena shook her head. "No, I understand, I guess. Your culture is special, or sacred, or whatever, and you don't want it to be mocked by outsiders. I can respect that. And I know that Bilbo hasn't proven himself yet, but he will." She smiled smugly.

Fíli craned his neck to look behind him at her. "Why do you sound so... strange? Almost like..."

"Like you're planning, or hiding, something. Like you know something we don't," Kíli jumped in.

Celia shrugged innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about. We know lots of things you don't. You'll have to be more specific."

Bífur snorted and flashed his fingers at them. Bofur raised his eyebrows and chuckled, nodding. "I believe that's a good sign to start with. It means, 'liar.' Allow me to repeat it so you can see it better." Raising his hand, he repeated the gesture, holding up a finger and cupping his other hand over it before pointing at them. "Did you get that, or do I need to repeat it again?"

"No, I- I believe that was pretty clear," Celia said dryly.

Elena shrugged. "I don't know, I don't think I got it. What was the point again?"

Bofur shook his head. "Alright. We might as well actually get started with the lesson. We won't be reaching the Misty Mountains until sometime tomorrow, but those clouds overhead point to a storm coming, and we won't be able to practice then."

Celia turned to look where he was pointing, seeing the dark clouds hanging over the mountains growing steadily closer as they continued traveling. "Will that be a cause for concern? Isn't the weather usually worse in the mountains?"

Bofur shrugged. "It could be. Depends on if it's just rain, how windy it is, the usual - it's the weather, you can't predict it."

Celia shrugged. "Fair enough. They couldn't back home, either. Should we actually get started on the lesson, now, or keep vaguely insulting each other?"

"I was waiting on you," Bofur pointed out. "I offered to help you with another lesson, but you all kept getting distracted. Are you sure you're ready?"

Celia shifted in her seat, trying to get a bit more comfortable before nodding, taking a deep breath before releasing it. "All right. Might as well. It'll help pass the time, and it's not like we've really got anything else to do, right? And besides. It'd be good to be able to at least talk a little bit with Master Bífur, in case of emergencies, and whatnot."

The toymaker smiled wryly at her before talking to Bofur, who grinned widely at him before turning to the girls. "He says for you both to call him Bífur. Apparently, he doesn't stand on any sort of formality. I mean, we all already knew that, but he just made it official. That goes for me as well, by the way," he added. "You don't need to get fancy with neither of us."

"Thank you," Elena said with a smile. "And you can just call us by our first names as well. We never got called 'Lady' back home, so it's a little weird to get called it here. Especially when we're nowhere near a court scene, or anything official like that. The closest place was probably Rivendell, but even there it was still a casual setting, so... let's just drop it, yeah?"

Bífur grinned and nodded.

"All right then," Bofur said, holding the reigns to his pony with one hand and leaving his other free. "We'll start with basic greeting conversation. To greet somebody, you hold your hand up to your forehead and push out. That's saying hello, or welcome," he told them, demonstrating.

"It looks almost like a salute," Celia said, furrowing her brow and repeating the gesture, holding onto Kíli with her other hand.

"Now, this isn't the formal greeting, so you'd want to use this if you were meeting someone lordly, like the two princes here," Bofur added, cupping his hand around to his chest. "And a bow wouldn't hurt either. Or a curtsy, I suppose, if you didn't want to bend over and mess up your fancy hairdos, or nothing."

Elena snorted. "Fancy hairdos? Have you seen us? No one here is exactly looking their freshest. We may have gotten the chance to bathe at Rivendell, but no one was really dressing up."

Celia wrinkled her nose, feeling some hair escaping from her bun and fluttering against her neck in the wind as they rode. "Yeah, I don't think we'll have to worry about that one for now. Maybe we'll just keep that one in mind for after we reach Erebor. What's next?"

They spent the rest of the day going over various signs and practicing them, and even managed to hold a (very) basic conversation with Bífur shortly after lunch, which was, as Bofur had predicted, eaten as they traveled. The mountains loomed ever closer, the dark storm clouds hovering threateningly overhead, but never breaking.

"I think we'll be close enough to turn the ponies loose by nightfall, and start climbing in the morning," Kíli commented towards the end of the day.

"Really?" Celia asked, staring at the mountains doubtfully. "It looks like it could still be a ways away."

"We'll be riding until nightfall," Fíli informed her. "Uncle wants to make up for lost time. So it'll be even closer then, especially seeing as the days last longer in the summertime. So it'll be another few hours yet. Then we'll release the ponies back to Rivendell, with our thanks to the twin sons of Elrond."

"Wait. You mean they were the ones to give us the ponies?" Elena frowned. "Why?"

"Well, considering that we were sneaking off, you'd hardly expect the stable master to just let us walk off with fourteen ponies," Fíli reminded her. "So, Elladan and Elrohir arranged to get the ponies for us on condition that we release the ponies once we reached the mountains. They may be elf-trained, but they're not meant for the sort of climbing that we'll be doing."

"Hmm." Celia hummed, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully. "Seems like you guys got along pretty well with them after all, if they were willing to help us escape."

Kíli shrugged. "I think the possibility of causing harmless mischief appealed to them more than anything, but yes. They're not bad, for elf-folk."

"Speaking of the lot of you, why did Glorfindel come in asking if we knew where the twins were?" Elena asked curiously. "He seemed like he wanted to clock their heads together a few times."

Fíli threw his head back and laughed. "He did. The twins came by and told us later. That jingling we'd been hearing all day was him - some bells had _somehow_ been hidden artfully in his clothes, so he'd jingle every time he walked. They were good clothes, of course, so he didn't just want to cut them open. Plus, he happened to be extremely busy yesterday, so he didn't have the chance to change."

"Not to mention that the twins were the most likely suspects, so he didn't even think of blaming us," Kíli added with a grin.

"Of course he wouldn't have," his brother added with an air of assumed innocence. "Why would he? We'd never interacted with him before, but from what the brothers told us, they have an ongoing prank war between them, so they were easy suspects."

"Wait," Celia said, looking between the two brothers. "You mean that you two - clumsy, loud, dwarves that you are, compared to elves - managed to sneak into the bedroom of one of the most esteemed elven warriors ever, and secretly sew bells onto his clothing without anyone noticing?"

Fíli shook his head immediately. "Of course not. Elladan did that while we distracted him, with Elrohir's help the night before. Then, we just sat back and enjoyed the show."

xXx

They released the ponies that night, who immediately set back for Rivendell, and made camp, the mountains looming over them. The next day, though the clouds kept promising storms, no rain fell, and they were able to hike along the mountain paths in peace, the girls enjoying the greenery growing along the path.

It didn't last, though. When they made camp that night, they could see the end of the plants further ahead, and only a rocky trail remaining. The next morning they set out once more, the trail quickly becoming rocky and narrow as they continued to climb, the few plants remaining looking weak, and ill.

The trail became steadily more difficult as they went, the one side dropping off abruptly and forcing them to cling to the mountain side for fear of falling off. The thunderstorm that had been building for the last few days finally broke, pouring down a blinding rain that made it difficult to see or hear, with lightning flashing dangerously nearby and deafening thunder following. Celia ended up grasping the back of Kíli's tunic with one hand, and clutching Elena's hand with the other in an effort to keep from losing her balance, her sister doing the same with Fíli.

She noticed the other dwarves bunching together to help keep their balance as well, and was relieved to see that Bofur had grabbed Bilbo and brought him into their group, helping the hobbit stay upright. They traveled in this way for some hours, she didn't know how many, before the rain began to come down even harder, making the path even more treacherous and slippery.

"Hold on!" she heard Thorin shout to the others, right as the path between Bilbo's feet gave way, and he began to slip, losing his hold on Bofur's shirt. Dwalin, reacting immediately, grabbed him and pulled him firmly back onto the path.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin shouted over the storm.

"Watch out!" Dwalin shouted back suddenly, pulling himself flat against the mountainside.

The others looked up to see a massive boulder fly through the air and smash into the mountain above them. Celia cowered and shrunk against the mountainside, trying to avoid being hit by the rocks it knocked loose, the others quickly doing the same.

"This is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder battle," Balin realized. "Look!" He gestured to where a form was rising from a nearby mountain. The company watched in shock as the form slowly took on the shape of a man; albeit a giant, made of rock, man, and ripped the top off of another mountain.

"Well, bless me, the legends are true. Giants! Stone giants!" Bofur declared in amazement, staring up at them.

"Take cover! You'll fall!" Thorin shouted back at them, trying to warn the group.

"What's happening?" Kíli demanded, trying to make sense of the scene in front of him.

The stone giant reared back and threw the boulder in his hand, hitting another giant who had been rising behind the Company. As it fell backwards, the ground beneath them began to vibrate and crack from all the falling stones, causing the Company to shift around, trying to brace themselves and keep from falling.

In all the confusion, Celia lost hold of her sister's hand, although Kíli made sure to take her hand firmly in his grasp, relying on his experience with uneven trails to keep them both upright. As the giant reared back upright, the ground between the company began to crack, separating them, leaving them on the body of an enraged stone giant.

"Kíli, Celia, grab my hand! Kee!" Fíli shouted desperately from the other side of the chasm now forming, reaching out. Elena watched helplessly behind him, face pale and frightened, eyes pleading for them to jump.

They ran out of time, though, as the two stone giants began to fight with their fists, causing both groups to cling desperately to the rocks as they were flung around. The other giant was knocked backwards by a sharp blow, bringing its body close enough to the mountain that the other group was able to jump back onto the relatively more stable ground, leaving them in the clear.

Celia, still hanging onto the rock, blew out a breath of relief, seeing her sister safe on the rock once more with the rest of the group. But then their faces all turned to horror, staring at something beyond them.

Turning, Celia saw a third stone giant appear and throw another boulder at the giant they were currently trapped upon, knocking it over, and sending the group straight for the mountain. She felt her heart beating out of her chest as the mountain wall seemed to race towards them. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt Kíli press her back into the rock and cover her with his body in a futile attempt to protect them from sure death.

She braced herself for the impact, but felt her eyes fly open as Kíli suddenly grabbed her and jumped instead, landing with a thud on the ground before rolling to a stop. She blinked frantically, trying to get her bearings, hearing the crashing sound of the giant falling into the chasm behind them. Looking around, she could see the other members of her group slowly and unsteadily getting to their feet.

"Are you okay, Celia?" Kíli asked worriedly, bending over her. She blinked up at him, staggering to her feet with his help.

"I- I think so? Could you ask me after I process the fact that we came this close to dying today?" she asked weakly, holding out the fingers of one hand close together to demonstrate.

He grinned suddenly, the relief showing in stark contrast to the worry and tension that had been present there a moment before. The others rounded the bend a moment later, calling out various names frantically. Celia only just had time to turn before a brown-haired blur crashed into her, sending her staggering back a few paces.

"Oh my gosh, you're alive, you're alive. I can't believe you're alive, I thought you were dead. Please don't ever do that to me again," her sister pleaded, pulling back to look at her before drawing her in for another tight hug. Over her shoulder, Celia saw Thorin and Fíli embrace Kíli, the brunet prince smiling at her over the two of them and making a 'what can you do?' gesture at her. She shook her head and chuckled.

"Wait a minute," she frowned, not seeing a familiar face among all the others, heart dropping in realization. "Where's Bilbo?"

"Where's Bilbo? Where's the hobbit?" Bofur echoed, looking around for him.

"There!" Ori shouted, pointing to the edge of the cliff face.

"Get him!" Dwalin ordered as Ori dived for the hobbit, just missing his fingers as he slid another few feet.

The Company gathered round, trying unsuccessfully to reach him as Elena and Celia hovered in the back, clutching each other nervously. As they kept trying to reach him, Thorin swung down next to him, boosting him up so that the others could pull him to safety, where he immediately sat down on the path and tried to regain his breath.

Dwalin reached down, trying to pull Thorin back up, but the dwarf king lost his grip and began to fall, making Celia gasp and clutch a hand to her mouth in worry. Dwalin, however, refused to give up, and managed to catch his hand, pulling him up with an effort to safety.

"I thought we'd lost our burglar," he panted, trying to catch his breath after the strain of the last few minutes.

Thorin eyed Bilbo for a moment, before saying abruptly, "You need to be more careful, halfling. This is no place to relax your guard," and stalking off to converse with Dwalin and Balin, leaving Bilbo staring after him uncertainly before being tackled into a hug by Celia and Elena.

"You could have died, Bilbo!" Elena scolded him. "Be more careful!"

"Yes, yes, I promise to try and avoid stone giants flinging me into mountain chasms from now on," Bilbo said with a tired smile, patting her on the head.

Celia just groaned and released him, sitting back to glare at him. "Are you all right? No pain or injury?"

He shook his head with a smile. "I'm fine, I promise. Thorin saved me before I could fall, and aside from some scraped knees, and a slightly bruised ego, I have no injuries, I promise."

"Speaking of, that was kind of strange, what he said back there," Elena said, releasing him as well and helping him to his feet so that they could follow the others, who were starting to trickle after the others, all weary after the sudden adrenaline rush they had all experienced.

Celia nodded. "And it was different from what he was supposed to say, too."

Bilbo shrugged. "Well, it was probably one of the nicest things he's said to me so far," he admitted.

"That wasn't exactly nice," Celia pointed out skeptically.

He smiled. "Maybe not the words," he agreed. "But think back to when you spoke to me just a moment ago - Elena scolded me, and you started glaring at me, and demanding to know if I was okay. You weren't exactly all cuddles and warmth either. _But_ , you were asking because you cared. And your worry made your tone harsher. Now, obviously Thorin doesn't care about me in the same way you do. But in one sense, I think he's started to at least see me as one of his group - and that means someone he feels responsible for, someone he doesn't want to see hurt or lost."

Celia frowned, thinking his words over. "Well, they were certainly nicer than what he originally said. But why? We haven't really changed a whole lot of things from how they were originally supposed to go, yet."

He shrugged. "I don't know. We don't exactly chat. But I was prepared for them when they first arrived, and was able to stand up for myself. And first impressions can mean a lot to people. Maybe he thought there was more to me than just a 'grocer,'" he said the last word mockingly. "Or maybe he's just finally warming up to me, in his own, rude way."

Elena grinned. "Well, we're glad you're alive, at least. And it seems like some of the others are, too. Dwalin was even concerned, for a minute or two. And Nori seems to like you now - what's up with that, by the way?"

He shrugged innocently. "He may have been impressed by my ability to double cross and steal from both him and Dwalin at the same time. So it's not exactly a respectable relationship - we're bonding over our ability to steal things."

Celia chuckled. "Well, I don't think that most hobbits would call you a 'respectable hobbit' anymore, either, so that's all right. I like you much more this way than as a stuffy old bachelor."

He whacked her across the back of the head gently. "I'm still a stuffy old bachelor, so mind your manners! Just because we're on top of a mountain in a pouring rain, and looking for a cave to sleep in is no reason to stop acting properly," he informed them, sticking his nose up in the air with an affected air of haughtiness, making the two girls laugh.

"Seriously, though, Bilbo, please try not to get yourself killed," Elena said pleadingly. "It makes us worry."

He shrugged. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises - I did sign on to steal from a dragon, you know. But the same goes for you. You both could have died today, and neither of you have lived long enough to experience life as it should be lived."

Elena opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Kíli shouting that they had found a cave, and they hurried to join the rest of the group.

"It looks safe enough," Dwalin said, eyeing the large hole in the mountainside.

"Search to the back; caves in mountains are seldom unoccupied," Thorin ordered. Dwalin managed to light a lantern and search while the rest of them waited anxiously, the rain finally lightening up as they did so.

"There's nothing here," Dwalin finally reported.

Glóin immediately moved in and dropped a load of firewood on the ground, rubbing his hands. "Right then! Let's get a fire started!"

"No. No fires, not in this place. Get some sleep. We start at first light," Thorin ordered him. Glóin sighed, but nodded, packing the wood off to the side as the others moved in and began laying out their bags.

"We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us. That was the plan," Balin objected, a worried look on his face.

"Plans change. Bofur, take the first watch," Thorin said gruffly. "We'll have the cold meat for supper tonight, then rest. We need all the strength we can get after a day like today."

* * *

 **A/N: I'd like to say first of all that I don't know the first thing about Dwarvish sign language, so please don't take it as canon - I took the smattering I knew of ASL and used that as a base.**

 **Second of all, Happy Thanksgiving! I know one thing I'm definitely thankful for is all my amazing readers!**

 **Huge thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to ColdOnePaul and E for reviewing!  
**

 ** _ColdOnePaul: Good to hear! :) I realized (eventually) that they still had their beads, and what better person to help them than Thorin? Hope you liked this one!  
_**

 ** _E: Aww, thank you for reviewing! I always love hearing from you! And I enjoyed writing the bet part, too. I realized that because I'm writing things (and Bilbo) a little bit differently, Bilbo's interactions would be different as well, and I wanted to write him bonding with the group a bit better than before. There's a little bit of Fíli/Elena here, and even a bit of Celia/Kíli, although I make no promises as to whether or not anything will happen with that. ;) Hope you liked this chapter!_**

 **I love hearing from all of you, and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! (And if you live outside of the USA, then... have a great Thursday anyways! ;)**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, or LOTR. They belong to the JRR Tolkien estate.**


	18. Chapter 18- To Die, That Others May Live

~~ Elena~~

After eating a hastily constructed meal, the group readied themselves for bed, and most fell asleep within minutes, worn out by the day's adventures. The boys placed their bedrolls next to the girls and sat down, talking in hushed voices. Elena, seeing that her sister was temporarily occupied talking to Bilbo, knelt down next to them.

"I wanted to say thanks for looking out for Celia, earlier," she told Kíli softly.

He looked up at her, brown eyes innocent and wide. "What makes you think that I did anything special? I didn't do-" He stopped, frowning. "That didn't come out right. Of course I would look out for her, but, I mean, why -"

Elena stopped him with a smile. "For one, because my sister mentioned that you had tried to protect her from the mountain earlier. And two, because Fíli did the exact same thing when he thought we were going to hit the mountain. Tried to protect me as much as possible. And as much as you may try to hide it, you're every bit as much of a gentleman as he is. And my sister is..."

She swallowed hard and looked away. "My sister means the world to me. I guess it just really hit home for me today that she could have died, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop it. So thank you for protecting her when I couldn't."

Kíli rested a hand on her shoulder, making him look up at her. Both he and Fíli were wearing warm smiles. "Of course. You and Celia have become good friends to me and my brother during our travels. And we Durins tend to be protective of our friends." He grinned, the expression lighting up his face. "And, you know, we got to see a thunder battle too. So it was pretty much a win-win."

Elena shook her head, but smiled, feeling lighter inside. "Of course. Leave it to you to focus on the battle, not the part where we almost died."

He shrugged. "Why focus on the grim when there's so much more amazing things to see? We've almost died several times, but we didn't - and almost no one has seen a thunder battle, let alone lived to tell about it. We've just seen something that there are legends about!"

Elena tilted her head at him. "That's a... surprisingly deep thought, and an extremely optimistic view on life. Maybe I'll take a page out of your book." She smiled, covering a yawn before laying down on her roll and pulling the blankets up to her neck. "Night, you two," she said fondly as her sister came and laid down beside her, repeating the sentiment. They returned her message with chuckles and a few yawns of their own before laying down for the night, their breathing quickly becoming even and regular.

"Did you have a nice chat?" Celia's whisper startled her. Rolling over, she met her sister's eyes.

"We talked. I told Kíli thanks for looking after my harebrained sister. The usual."

Not even bothering to roll her eyes, Celia couldn't help but smile fondly. "I said the same thing to Fíli." Her expression sobered. "Are you ready for... you know, tonight?"

Elena sighed heavily, her eyes flitting up to the bag by her head, and the axes lying in their sheathes under her hand. "As close as we can get, I guess. I have everything else packed up, and ready to grab. What about you? Did you talk to Bilbo?"

Celia nodded. "I didn't tell him everything, but I told him not to give away who he is, or what his name is if he were to meet anyone. I think he suspects something is going on, but he's not going to ask if we're not going to tell. I feel kind of guilty, though. Not telling him what's going to happen."

Elena frowned. "I know. But this is something that has to be done if Middle Earth is to be saved. He's probably the only one right now who could safely carry it. And we don't even know how it will affect us, knowing that it's right there. And if we tell him, he might change something for the worst. At least this way, maybe it'll be harder for anyone to find him afterwards. And I've been thinking..."

Her sister smiled. "Want me to wake Ori? Let him know that a miracle has just happened that he needs to write down?" she teased.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, have your fun. Anyways, I was thinking that maybe you should do something that makes you look less like a female. Like pull your hair in front to make a beard. Something to help you blend in a little better."

Celia frowned uncertainly. "I guess. But what about you? Your hair is hardly long enough to get pulled in front, let alone braided like a dwarf's would be." Even as she talked, she had already pulled some of her hair in front, practiced fingers easily braiding it across and under her chin, forming a rough copy of a braided beard.

Elena squinted at the finished work. "If you keep your hood down, and don't talk, it should be passable in the dark. I'll just try and look manly, I guess," she shrugged, flexing her muscles jokingly. "I'm hoping that the goblins won't know enough about dwarves to be able to tell the difference. Because anything seen as different, or weaker, will be a target. So us, Ori, and the princes are all gonna need to be careful. We all look the weakest, even if the boys are excellent fighters, and Ori's strong enough to take down a moose, if his brother can be believed."

Celia nodded, undoing the braid, although her eyes were worried as she made sure that her bow was close at hand, and her fingers ran along her back, making sure that her quiver was still attached, full of arrows. "All right. Let's try and get some rest before it all goes wrong. And please. Be careful," she pleaded. Her twin nodded, smiling softly and giving her hand a squeeze before curling up in her blankets and closing her eyes.

xXx

"What're you doing? Trying to ignore the snores of everyone else in there? Planning on returning to Rivendell for more food? Or maybe you're just trying to get a better look at my beautiful beard for when you try to grow your own?" Bofur's teasing question slowly dragged Elena out of unconsciousness.

She heard Bilbo snort. "Bofur, if I wanted to see beauty I would have stayed in Rivendell. There's nothing about anyone's beards here that could even come close to making me jealous, that's for certain."

"Bilbo, you wound me!" Bofur cried, mock pain filling his voice. "Why else would you stay if not for our looks?"

"For Celia and Elena, if nothing else," Bilbo said, seriousness filling his voice. "And... I have to admit, it would be a shame if this Company were to plunge to their fiery demise because the only two members of this company with any sense were to disappear. I've grown somewhat fond of the lot of you, for as bad as you smell."

"Oi!" Bofur protested. "I'll have you know that I bathed just last month! And which two of the Company were supposed to have any sense? 'Cause if you were to ask me, I'd be hard pressed to find one!"

Bilbo chuckled. As Elena sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she looked around and saw that the rest of the Company was still sleeping, although Thorin's posture looked a bit too stiff to be really asleep. She frowned. Something about this rung familiar, although she couldn't place it for a moment. Finally she remembered, and her eyes went wide all of a sudden. Placing a hand over her sister's mouth, she gently shook her shoulder until her eyes blearily opened.

"Whaa?" Celia mumbled grumpily.

Elena quickly hushed her. "Shh! You need to wake up! I think we'll be facing the goblins soon," she hissed. Celia was awake in an instant. Shuffling out of her sleeping bag, she quickly rolled it up and stuffed it in her pack, slinging it over her back while her sister did the same. Then, taking her blanket, Elena wrapped it around her waist under her tunic and secured it, making her look much bulkier and round all over.

"What are you doing?" her twin asked, watching her curiously.

"It'll be harder for the goblins to tell us apart as females if we look bulkier, like the rest of the Company," Elena returned quietly. "Plus, it'll keep the blanket safe for later, and could even add some extra padding."

Her sister nodded, making a silent 'oh of comprehension with her mouth before doing the same. Making sure their weapons were at hand, they tried to sit inconspicuously against the wall.

"When do you think it'll happen?" Celia whispered nervously, quickly braiding her hair into the 'beard' she had tried earlier.

Elena shrugged unhappily. "I don't know. It could be any minute now, really."

"What's that?" Bofur's voice cracked like a whip through the silence. They turned to him, but his eyes were on the floor of the cave, where a glowing blue line was steadily forming across middle.

Thorin threw off all pretenses of sleeping in an instant. "Wake up. Wake up!" he roared, clutching Orcrist. But before anyone could really wake up and respond, the floor dropped away and they were sent free-falling into the darkness below with unhappy shouts and groans as they bounced off of various rocks and the like.

It was a trap, however, and so it quickly became apparent that they had fallen into some sort of chute that was sending them speeding towards an ultimate destination. The first time they landed, Elena hit something that was comparatively softer than the ground; then felt arms wrap around her and hold her securely, making her tense before she realized who it was.

"Just hold on, Elena!" she heard Fíli shout in her ear over the sound of the air rushing past them. "Kíli's got your sister." She twisted her head around slightly to see her sister's head buried in her arms, and Kíli wrapped around her, trying his best to protect both their heads from hitting the various rocks that lined the passageway they were falling down.

They finally landed with a thump inside a large wooden cage, and were immediately beset by an array of hideous goblins, that swarmed through them, taking their weapons and pulling them down a bridge. Elena, feeling grateful that she had only had the barest of searches for obvious weapons and not been subjected to anything that could lead to any problems, felt a slight tug on her wrist. Looking over, her face pale, she saw Fíli watching her in concern. He leaned in slightly, looked around, then quickly reached over and pulled her hood around her face.

"Do not let them see that you're a female!" he hissed. "And whatever they do, try not to speak. Your voice is higher pitched than ours, and could give you away. And if they find you and Celia, it'll be easy to get to the rest of us. Just try to stay calm. We'll do whatever we can to protect you."

She nodded, slouching in an effort to hide her face better, and was aware of her sister doing the same beside her, also bereft of her weapons. Despite the screeching goblins around them, the Company had somehow maneuvered themselves to have the two girls, Ori, and Bilbo all in the center of the group, with Fíli and Kíli on the outer edges of the circle as well, providing another barrier between the girls and the goblins.

They were finally jerked to a halt in the center of a massive cavern, in front of a platform that held a massive, deformed goblin who wore the semblance of a crown atop his fleshy head. The goblins threw down the weapons they had collected in front of him and made obeisance. The Great Goblin wobbled off of his throne, trampling several goblins in the process, and stood before them. Elena felt Celia's hand brush hers, but forced her hands to stay clenched, and her head down. As much as she might want the comfort of another person's touch in this madness, any sign of weakness or favor could easily be seen and exploited.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?" the Great Goblin sneered, spewing his foul breath over them.

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence," one of the goblins fawned, seeming to be in charge of that particular group.

"Dwarves?" the Great Goblin repeated, as if in disbelief.

"We found them on the front porch," the smaller goblin explained.

"Well, don't just stand there; search them! Every crack, every crevice!" the goblin king spat.

Instantly they were swarmed by goblins. Elena staggered back against the rush, trying not to cringe as she felt filthy hands swarm over her, feeling over her clothes for any weapons that might be there. Thankfully, the goblins, while vicious and cruel, were fairly stupid, and felt the blanket and let it be with only a leer at the "fatness" of the dwarf, without appearing to suspect anything.

Glancing at her sister, Elena breathed a sigh of relief that her sister seemed to have been left alone. Bilbo must have gotten through safely as well, which was a wonder, considering he was still there with them. Perhaps his hobbit upbringing was enough to help him avoid the eyes of the goblins?

"What are you doing in these parts? Speak!" the goblin king demanded. When none of the dwarves answered, only shuffling their feet, while somehow also angling the girls and princes towards the center of the group, he grew angry. "Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the youngest!" he ordered.

His gaze roved the group before Ori stepped forward slightly with both a determined look in his eye and a nervous swallow, ensuring that his beady glare landed on him and not Elena or Celia, or either of the princes. The goblin king's eyes lit up triumphantly as he pointed at him.

But before he could do anything, Thorin stepped forward, maintaining a cool and collected appearance even in the midst of the goblin domains. "Wait," he commanded, his voice dignified.

The Great Goblin straightened, recognizing him immediately. "Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain," he sneered, bowing exaggeratedly in a way that made his mounds of flesh wobble. "Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really."

He paused, pretending to think. "Although, I do know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A pale orc astride a white warg." He eyed Thorin closely, hoping to get a reaction from him.

But Thorin already knew that Azog could have survived, and while this confirmed his fears, he controlled himself and kept a cool, steady glare on his face. "You think this is news to me?" He smirked coldly. "Perhaps it is only to be expected that someone who lives in the dark would have outdated information. Azog was defeated once by me in battle and still bears the scars I gave him. I can defeat him again," he warned, pride and rage warring in his voice.

The Great Goblin's eyes flickered with rage, but he controlled himself with a visible effort, finally saying, "So you think his defiling days are done, do you? Send word to the pale orc. Tell him I have found his prize," he ordered a small goblin hanging in a basket off to the side.

The goblin scratched something down a pad before pulling a cord that sent him flying off into the darkness on his mission. The king turned back to his servants and raised his hands in a signal that they knew all too well, and the throngs of goblins gathered around the cavern screeched in hideous pleasure as various objects identifiable only as torture machines began to be brought to the platform.

What was worse, was when he started singing, with a voice that was arguably worse than his stench. " _Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung. You will lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin Town_."

The dwarves moaned and complained in response, while the goblins jeered and shouted in triumph. But the same goblin that had presented them had been searching through their weapons, perhaps for a trophy, before finding something that sent him jumping backwards screeching in terror.

He threw down Thorin's sword in horror, leaving it in sight of all the goblins, who at once began to shriek and flee from the sword, as if its very presence was painful. The Great Goblin himself ran back to his throne as fast as his jiggly legs could hold him, clutching it as if it could save him.

"I know that sword! It is the Goblin Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks!" he shouted. His voice seemed to antagonize the rest of the goblins, and they threw themselves at the group, whipping them with ropes, and assaulting them bodily, biting and clawing at any parts they could reach.

Elena defended herself as best as she could, punching and throwing goblins off of her, and she noticed the other dwarves taking down goblins that seemed to be heading for her, and made a mental note to thank them later if they all survived. Her head was yanked backwards as one goblin leapt on top of her, yanking her hood back and scratching at her face.

Jerking her head forward, she swung it backwards, straight into the nose of the goblin behind her, making it yelp and fall backwards off of her. In the front of the group, the goblins had managed to grab Thorin and were holding him down, one of them pulling out a knife and preparing to behead Thorin. She heard an agonized yell from Kíli, but could only focus on keeping the goblins off of her, and trying to keep an eye on her sister as well; but she had lost sight of her in the mad rush, and could only pray that she was all right.

Then, there was a massive flash of light and wind that knocked everyone over. Wincing at the brightness, Elena blinked until her eyes had adjusted, noticing that now the majority of the lights in the cavern had been put out, and a tall, shadowy figure was walking towards them. As the light began to return, the figure was revealed to be Gandalf, holding his staff and Glamdring.

Everyone stared at him as he approached, a scowl set on his face. "Take up arms! Fight! Fight!" he commanded, breaking the spell that seemed to have fallen over everyone in the cavern.

Instantly the chaos returned as the groups began struggling again, although this time the dwarves were able to regain some of their advantage as they were able to reach the weapons pile and reclaim their weapons.

"He wields the Foe-Hammer, the Beater! Bright as daylight!" the goblin king shouted, shielding his eyes from the sight.

Elena grabbed her axes gratefully and returned her knife to its sheath, holding her axes at the ready, although most of the goblins seemed to be going after the other dwarves first. Then, a terrified yell pierced the adrenaline fogging her brain, and she swung around to see her sister knocked flat on the ground with a long, bloody cut on her face, and her arm held out in front of her in a futile attempt at protection. Her bow was lying uselessly under a dead goblin, and she was staring up at a goblin leering down at her, sword ready to strike.

In later moments, she never could clearly remember what had happened, only that a fierce determination overtook her. The next thing she knew, the goblin toppled backwards with a look of surprise on his face, and one of her axes buried in his chest.

She gasped sharply, the world coming back into focus with a snap. Celia stood in front of her, face pale against the sharp line of blood on her forehead. In her hands she held her bow, and her quiver was slung along her back.

"Elena, move!" she ordered fiercely, drawing an arrow and shooting a goblin that came too close. Forcing herself to get a grip, Elena placed her boot on the goblin's body and, trying to ignore what she was doing, yanked her axe out of its body with a sickening squelch before being swept up by the Company and herded along with them down the bridge.

"Follow me, quick! Run!" Gandalf shouted, swinging at a goblin that came too close. The dwarves formed a tight body that ran after him, taking down all goblins in their path. "Quickly!" Gandalf urged again, seeing the swarm of goblins that was running after them. Elena forced herself to keep up with the group and swung at any goblins that came close enough, feeling strangely numb and empty inside.

"Faster!" Another dwarf shouted, although she couldn't be bothered to find out who it was. They swung around a corner on the tight bridge and saw several goblins charging at them.

"Post!" Dwalin shouted suddenly, cutting down a guardrail with the help of a few others. Holding it in front of themselves like a massive spear, they charged at the goblins and swung it across the bridge, sweeping the creatures off into the chasm beneath. Eventually dropping it, they all leapt over the rail and continued on their path.

"Cut the ropes!" Thorin commanded a few minutes later, and Elena looked up from her immediate surroundings to see goblins swinging towards them on ropes, heading towards a suspended platform in front of them.

Raising her axes, she charged forward with the rest and stood by Thorin, slicing through the ropes holding a suspended platform in place. As it swung free, it began to tangle with the goblins' ropes, derailing them from their intended targets. An arrow hissed by her ear, narrowly missing her, and she snapped her head up to see goblin archers aiming at the group.

Celia raised her bow and snapped off several arrows in quick succession, toppling three goblins from their perches and missing two more. Kíli, up near the front of the group, snatched a ladder leading up to another platform and dropped it on the oncoming goblins.

Pushing it forward, he and a few others used it to knock the goblins off and into the darkness; before dropping it on the space between their platform and another, forming a bridge that they were all able to cross over. Once the last dwarf had crossed, Dwalin sliced his axe through the ladder, destroying it and keeping any more goblins from crossing over.

"Quickly!" Gandalf urged again, looking over his shoulder at the screeching mass still following them. Following the maze-like pathways, they ended up on a pathway suspended in the air by ropes.

Thinking quickly, Thorin sliced through the ropes anchoring them to the rest of the pathway, sending the platform towards another path. "Jump!" he ordered, leaping for the new platform.

Half of the Company followed, but the platform swung back before the rest could follow, leaving them stranded and swinging back towards the murderous goblins, who swarmed the ropes as soon as they got close enough. But the platform was still moving, and swung back towards the rest of the Company. Jumping forward, the rest of the dwarves and Gandalf rejoined their group and sliced the ropes, dropping the platform and the remaining goblins on it.

Running forward, they entered what looked tunnels, Elena looking around mechanically to make sure that they were all there. She could see Gandalf and Thorin leading the group, and Celia was being closely followed by Kíli. She was at the end of the group, and if she turned around, she could see Fíli staying close to her, a worried look on his face and his swords held at the ready. Bilbo was right behind her, his sword out and glowing a bright blue, with a darker liquid staining parts of it.

His face was paler than normal, but set and determined. He met her eyes and tried to smile reassuringly. She appreciated the gesture, but didn't think anything showed on her face. He looked worried, now, though. She felt vaguely curious as to why he was now, and not before, but dismissed it. She had to focus on the business at hand, with no distractions. She returned her axes to their sheathes for the moment, wanting to focus more on balance than preparing to fight an enemy that might never reach her through the rest of the Company anyways.

After a few minutes they approached a bridge between two walls of the cavern. Elena slipped on some loose rocks and wobbled for a minute, before Bilbo steadied her. She nodded in gratitude, looking down at the chasm beneath them. Being this close to the edge, one false step could mean the end. But she was careful. She wouldn't make a false step.

Unfortunately for her... someone else would.

Already close to the edge on an unstable platform, all it took was a final step to complete the accident waiting to happen. And it came in the form of a large, grotesque goblin king.

Slamming onto the bridge at the front of the group, the resulting unsteadiness of the floor from his sheer mass beneath their feet sent Bilbo to the floor, smacking his head on a rock hard enough to daze him before he went tumbling off the side with a startled cry. Reacting faster than she ever thought she could, Elena swung down and grabbed him, although his weight was enough to unbalance her and send her over the edge as well.

Just when she thought she was done for, a hand reached down and grabbed hers, clutching her with all its might.

"Don't let go, Elena! Just hold on!" Fíli shouted desperately, laying almost flat on the bridge in an effort to hold both her and Bilbo up. But she could see almost immediately that it was a losing battle.

All the others were focused on the goblin king and the few goblins that had managed to catch up and attack; and the weight of her and Bilbo was starting to drag Fíli down as well. He wouldn't be able to save them in time, and he would go down with them. In an instant, her head cleared, and she felt all her emotions at once again. But most of all, she realized, that she didn't want him to die too. Someone needed to watch over her sister.

"Fíli," she breathed, feeling Bilbo's grip starting to slip from hers. No doubt he was thinking the same thing as best he could in his addled state, but she refused to let him go. He had been alone for so long, she wouldn't let him face this last battle alone. She tightened her grip, and felt her own in Fíli's slip a little more even as he himself slid closer over the edge.

In response, he clutched her hand all the tighter, tears shimmering in his bright blue eyes. He knew what she was thinking. She could see the realization and determination not to let her in his eyes as he strained to lift them. But he was at the wrong angle to hold her up, she could tell. The others were focused on fighting off the goblins, and he was all alone.

And he was slipping.

"Look after my sister, Fíli. Promise me, please?"

He shook his head in desperation. "No. Don't you dare. Don't you dare let go, Elena Owens." He tried to use his other hand to get more leverage, but was forced to use it to keep his own balance on top of the platform instead as she slipped a little further. "Please. Don't do this!" he begged.

She smiled weakly, her own eyes watering. "I'm sorry. But you can't hold us both up, and I'm not dragging you down with me. The others won't get here in time. And I'm not letting Bilbo face this alone. Not anymore. Just look after Celia, all right? Please? She's lost enough already."

"No, no, no, no, no." He shook his head frantically, his breathing uneven. "Elena, please!" His voice broke halfway through. "You can look after her yourself, like you're supposed too! Just hold on a little longer!"

She smiled up at him, trying so hard to save her. He really was a good friend. "I know you'll look after her anyways. Because that's the kind of person you are. Just... tell her I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Her hand slipped further.

He stared at her, his blue eyes, normally so light and happy, now filled with anguish and tears; the rest of the world fading around them. Above her, she could hear the shouts of the Company as they fought.

Her sister was up there, fighting; and Kíli, no doubt looking after her as best as he could. Beneath her, Bilbo hung silently; blood trickling down his face, his grip in her hand growing slacker. And Fíli, trying so hard to save her, even if it could cost him his own life.

Her decision was easy, really.

"And please. One last thing. Tell her I loved her. More than anything."

He opened his mouth to speak, but it was too late. She let go. He tried desperately to hold on, but her weight combined with Bilbo's was too much. She was slipping, and he couldn't do anything.

And then she fell.

Bilbo slipped out of her grasp then, but that was all right. Because they were together anyways.

Not alone. Not anymore.

Fíli and the others were safe. Fíli and Kíli would look after her sister, even though she couldn't.

Not anymore.

She could see Fíli above her, reaching desperately towards her, shouting her name with the sound swallowed up by the battle, tears streaking down his face. She thought she felt some to match on hers, feeling cool against the wind rushing down her face.

But strangely, she wasn't afraid anymore. Even though she and Bilbo were about to die any minute, and she had most likely failed in her part to save Middle Earth, she felt at peace. That things would turn out all right in the end anyways.

She felt her head slam against something, perhaps a rock that jutted out, but it didn't really matter. Nothing really mattered anymore. There was a brief flare of pain as the world started to fade around her, but that didn't matter either. The last thing she saw was Fíli's face, still fixated on her, shouting desperately.

Then her eyes slid shut, and everything went dark.

She never felt the landing on the cold, hard ground. She never felt the blood that flowed from her body before slowly trickling to a stop, leaving her surrounded by a shimmer of red that seemed almost like a halo.

She never heard the hissing breaths that slowly approached. She never felt the cold, clammy hands run over her body. She never heard the triumphant cries.

And she never felt her still body being dragged over the rocky ground before coming to a stop by a moonlit pool as someone - or something - prepared to feast.

* * *

 **A/N: *Dodges rocks* I know, I know... Yes, I really did make Fíli watch the light fade from Elena's eyes as she fell into the darkness... and now she's about to be eaten by Gollum... but on the other hand, we'll get to see the fallout next chapter!**

 **On a (semi) brighter note, I am now asking you guys to make a decision: There will be the chance for me to introduce Frerin, Thorin's brother, way later on towards the end of the story. It would fit in the story arc, and I even have a plot twist so that he's not dead. Or, I can leave his death canon, and he never shows up. It's up to you. (I know, I know, I drop one of _the_ main characters off a cliff and have their lifeless body get dragged off to be eaten, and want to know if you guys want me to bring back a minor character who was already dead in the books). :/**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to mems1223 and E for reviewing!  
**

 ** _mems1223: Awww, thanks! :) I hope you still like this story after today's chapter... ;)  
_**

 ** _E: And after light, comes dark... literally. Glad you liked the last chapter! And for the last part of your note... daaaang. Like, seriously. I never even hinted at what was going to happen this chapter, and you still somehow knew! Nice. I was at work when I got the notification of your review, and it just made me laugh so hard. Irony. ;)  
_**

 **Also, guys, don't give up on this story just yet! I'll be updating next Tuesday, so... one way or another, things will be resolved! (For this arc, at least... I'm not finishing the story next chapter)**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! (even if I maybe just killed off a main character.)**

 **General Disclaimer: I apparently kill off main characters. That's not really JRR Tolkien's style (he kills off everyone else), so I'm probably not him**


	19. Chapter 19 - Left Behind To Grieve

Celia gasped for breath as she ran with the Company down a bridge in between two walls of a cavern. She forced herself to stop when everyone in front of her halted suddenly as the fleshy form of the Great Goblin leapt onto the bridge in front of them; his weight causing it to shudder, followed by a few others who managed to make the trip, and tried to attack the Company while they were distracted by the goblin king.

A few archers seemed to be hiding in the masses above as well, judging by the arrows that hissed among the group, narrowly missing them. Drawing her bow back, she aimed and fired, taking down a goblin that Kíli had missed. He nodded at her before returning fire as Thorin traded insults with the king.

When no more arrows seemed to be coming, Celia slung her bow around her shoulder and placed her hand on her dagger without drawing it. She was in the middle of the group, and so it didn't seem likely that any goblins would be able to reach her, and the ones that she could reach with her bow were too close for her to fire at without risking hitting one of the Company.

Dwalin took down the last goblin on the bridge with a sneer, while Celia turned back to the confrontation taking place before them. They were still being swarmed by goblins on all sides of the cavern, but they were unreachable for the time being.

"What are you going to do now, wizard?" the goblin king sneered, his large mace hanging in his hand.

Gandalf, not seeming deterred, leapt forward and smacked him in the eye with his staff, then stepped forward again and sliced him across his stomach with Glamdring, causing him to fall to his knees, clutching his stomach.

"That would do it," he muttered.

The other goblins began screeching in rage as Gandalf swung again at the goblin king's neck, killing him with a final stroke. Celia frowned, distracted momentarily by the sound of another desperate cry, sounding far more... human, was the only way to describe it, although there weren't even any humans in the cavern that she knew of. Then her attention swung forward again as the king slumped forward, his sheer weight causing the bridge to collapse with them still on it.

They slid down the walls of the cavern with terrifying speed. Celia clung to the floor and let out a terrified shriek, seeing the walls fly past them, and heard the shouts of the others as they tried to hang on.

Thankfully, the slope they were falling down slowed them down slightly so that when they landed, no one was killed, although they were all trapped beneath the wreckage of wood and rocks. Trapped underneath a particularly large piece of timber, Celia struggled to force her way out, wriggling over a rock that was stabbing into her ribs.

A hand came into her line of view, and she looked up to see Fíli standing over her. He looked incredibly upset about something, with shiny eyes and unsteady breathing, but unfortunately, this was not the time to ask about it.

She took his hand gratefully and allowed him to help her up. "Thanks," she said with a nod and a grin. "That was a bit of a wild ride, huh?" He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to have no words.

"Could have been worse, I suppose," Bofur reluctantly agreed.

Her eyes widened comically as he spoke. "No, don't say -" Her words were cut off as the lifeless body of the Great Goblin fell on the remains of the bridge, squishing the dwarves who were still stuck under the rubble and making them all groan. "It," she finished.

"Great," she sighed dramatically. "You jinxed it. Now you've gone and squished my sister under there somewhere. Hey, El!" She called, trying to find her twin in the wriggling mass of dwarves that were making their way out of the wreckage.

She heard a strangled noise from Fíli, but didn't have the chance to say anything, as Kíli looked up and saw the hordes of goblins swarming down the cavern walls after them.

"Gandalf!" he cried, alerting the wizard to the problem.

"There's too many of them!" Dwalin snarled, gripping his axes tighter. "We can't fight them!"

"Only one thing will save us: daylight! Come on! Here, on your feet!" Gandalf urged them. The group quickly got to their feet and followed the wizard down the path.

Fíli grabbed Celia's elbow and hurried her along with the group, making sure that she was smack in the center. She struggled briefly. "Wait. I can't see Elena! Is she in the back?" She tried to turn around to see, but Fíli kept his grip on her arm, forcing her to keep pace with the group and look ahead to make sure she didn't trip. "Fíli, I can run fine on my own," she tried, but he shook his head, his face pale and grim.

"I'm making sure you get out of here, Celia," he said without looking at her. "We need to keep moving." His voice was hard and steady - too steady to be natural.

She looked over and saw Kíli on her other side, watching his brother with a worried frown. When he saw her looking at him, he shrugged, but slowed his pace down, indicating that he would look out for her sister in the back. She smiled gratefully, even as she caught sight of sweet daylight up ahead through an opening in the rocks.

"Through here, quickly!" Gandalf shouted, standing to the side of the opening as they passed, muttering under his breath and following them as they emerged onto a tree-covered mountainside.

They kept running until they were a ways down the mountain, far enough that they were confident the goblins wouldn't follow, too wary of the sunlight that shone down on them. they all breathed sighs of relief as they came out in the open air once more. Fíli finally released Celia, but stayed close, hovering behind her as they regrouped, Celia sliding the blanket out from underneath her tunic and slinging it in her pack as they did so, pulling her hair free from it's already loose false beard, pulling it back quickly into her normal braid.

Once they had stopped, Gandalf began counting them to make sure they were all present, like a school teacher on a trip. "Five, six, seven, eight... Bífur, Bofur... that's ten... Fili, Kili... that's twelve... Bombur... with Celia that makes fourteen. Where's Bilbo? And where is Lady Elena? Where are our Hobbit and fellow _randir_? Where are they?" Gandalf demanded, looking over the group to make sure he hadn't missed them.

Celia felt her heart skip a beat as she looked over the group for Bilbo's distinctive short hair and bare feet, and her sister's feminine build. Or, you know, lack of beards. There was no sign of either. She twisted around to search the group, noticing a few others doing the same.

"Elena? Uncle Bilbo?" she called, trying to keep her voice low enough to be safe, but hoping the others could hear her and respond, only to be met with silence.

"Did they get lost in there?" Dwalin growled.

"I thought Bilbo was with Dori," Glóin muttered.

"And I thought Elena was following Celia!" Ori spoke up, his worry present on his face.

"Don't look at me!" Dori squawked.

"Well, where did you see them last?" Gandalf demanded, his bushy brows furrowing in concern.

Fíli stepped forward slowly, swallowing hard. Standing beside Celia, Kíli shot a look at his brother, and suddenly drew in a sharp breath, staggering back a step, his face paling. Celia glanced at him in concern, but quickly turned back to Fíli when he began to speak, a horrible feeling beginning to form in her stomach.

"I was - we were on the bridge, before the goblin king showed up, towards the back of the group. I was trying to stay close, just in case. Then, and then..." He stopped, swallowing hard. "They got too close to the edge. When the king jumped on the bridge, the impact from his weight made the bridge shift beneath us. Bilbo... Bilbo lost his footing, and slipped, hitting his head on a rock, and falling off."

Celia stiffened, drawing in a deep breath as she continued to listen, her heart pounding. Her eyes were locked on Fíli's face as he spoke. He made eye contact with her, his eyes pleading and broken.

"Elena moved faster than I thought she could, and grabbed him, but his weight was too much for her imbalanced position, and it pulled her off as well." Everybody was listening closely, as if frozen in place. "I managed to grab her before they fell, but... it was a bad position for me, too. I had been forced to lay flat, and while I couldn't pull both of them up at that angle, their weight was starting to pull me down as well."

His breath hitched and his voice began to waver for the first time. "She wanted to let go. She knew I couldn't pull them up on my own, and we were slipping. Bilbo was... dazed, or unconscious, and unable to help. He was bleeding. And she... she..." he stopped, walking over to Celia. Standing in front of her, he spoke only to her, though the rest of them could still hear.

"She said to tell you she was sorry, and to look after you," he started softly.

Celia shook her head, tears starting to stream down her face. "No. Don't - don't say it. Don't tell me that," she ordered, her voice breaking. Her hands were clenched into fists, her nails digging into her skin so hard there would probably be marks later. Her entire body was shaking, her breaths ragged. Behind her, Kíli stood stock still. "Just- just s-stop. Please. Please," she begged him.

Fíli looked like he wanted to, but forced himself to continue, his own eyes watery. "She said to tell you she loved you. More than anything. And then," he swallowed hard. "And then she let go." He drew in a deep breath. "I tried to hold on. I swear on my life, Celia, I tried. But I couldn't hold on. And she fell."

Celia shook her head. "She could still be alive," she insisted, her voice wavering. "Her and Bilbo both! They could have survived a fall. We did!" She was begging now, pleading for him to tell her it was all a bad joke, or a misunderstanding.

Fíli shook his head sadly. "We were on a different part of the bridge, and we had the wood beneath us to slow our fall. Not to mention that we slid down the side of the cavern. She... she fell. And she was already injured, if not already dead - she hit her head on a rock that jutted out. Celia... I'm sorry. But... they couldn't have survived a fall from that height. Please believe me, I'm so sorry. I should have held on tighter. But..." his shoulders drooped. "They're gone."

Celia swallowed hard around the lump in her throat, feeling the world sort of fade around her. Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute, but at the same time, it seemed like she couldn't think at all. On some level, she was vaguely aware of the fallen faces of the dwarves around her; of the way that Gandalf sagged and bowed his head, of Fíli, standing in front of her, his face clearly showing that he meant what he had said.

He really had tried to hold on. And he really believed that they were dead. She staggered back a step, drawing in a shuddering breath, trying to maintain her footing when the ground beneath her feet was giving way, like her world was collapsing around her.

"Celia?" Kíli's face appeared in front of her suddenly, looking worried. "Celia, are you all right? You look like you're about to pass out!"

"I..." she stopped, feeling like she was about to fall over any minute, or throw up. She swayed slightly, vaguely aware that Kíli had placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to steady her. It wasn't enough, though, and she slid to the ground in a heap, barely aware of the impact.

Kíli immediately crouched down beside her, Fíli hovering in the background, his face a mixture of devastated guilt and concern. "Óin! Óin! Something's wrong with Celia!" Kíli called, his hands hovering over her uncertainly.

The old healer hurried over, kneeling down with a grunt beside her. His face was sad, but his eyes were kind as he looked over her, taking her limp hand in his and checking her pulse. After a minute, he sighed and looked up at Thorin, who had come over as well, his face grimmer than normal, but otherwise set.

"She's in shock. She didn't really know how to respond, so her body shut down as a defense mechanism. She's physically unharmed aside from that cut on her forehead, just... in shock."

Thorin frowned. "Will she... wake up, so to speak, any time soon?"

Óin shrugged. "Hard to say. It all depends on her. You know how it goes."

Thorin nodded with a sigh. "Yes." A one word answer, that was an explanation in and of itself. He looked around the group, tired and weary, shoulders sagging and faces drawn. "We can stay here for a short time to regroup. We should be safe enough for now, so try and regain your strength." He looked over at his oldest nephew as the Company slowly began to form into groups, speaking softly or just sitting close together, taking comfort in each other's presence.

"Fíli." The prince looked at him reluctantly, dragging his eyes from the still form of his friend. "It was not your fault that they fell." Fíli instantly started to shake his head, but Thorin held up a hand, and he stopped. "I know you, and I know that you would have done everything in your power to save them. They would not blame you - Lady Elena even asked you to look after her sister, and she would not have done so if she blamed you."

He stepped closer to his shaking nephew. "Lady Celia does not blame you either. She may be... in shock right now, but that is from grief. When she is ready to speak, she will not blame you, if what I know of her is correct."

Fíli looked up at him. "But, Uncle... Even if she doesn't... _I_ blame me. Logically, I know that I could not have pulled them up on my own. But... I could have tried harder to get your attention, or held on longer. Or even just refused to let go." His voice grew quieter, harder to hear. "I should have gone with her. I was supposed to protect her, and I failed. I let her fall, and I didn't go with her."

Thorin sighed and crossed over to him, placing a hand on the back of his neck and drawing their foreheads together, though Fíli kept his gaze fixed on the ground. "We would have been unable to hear you no matter how loud you had cried. We were too focused on our own battles to hear you. And I know that you held on as long and as hard as you could."

His voice was soft and sympathetic, but filled with firm confidence. "You said that you were slipping as well, and that Lady Elena chose to let go, to save you. She knew that you wouldn't be able to hold them up. Two people are dead, Fíli. It could have been three. Don't dishonor her sacrifice by wishing she was not so noble at the end." His words were blunt, but spoken from love and concern, and Fíli knew that from the years of being raised by him.

He nodded slightly, his eyes flickering up to meet Thorin's, still watery, but lighter. "I will... try to remember that. Thank you, Uncle." Thorin nodded in return, embracing his nephew before releasing him to speak with Gandalf, who had come up earlier, needing to speak to him.

Fíli shut his eyes, then opened them, rejoining his brother. Kíli was sitting by Celia, his shoulder brushing hers, and her hand was holding his tightly, although her eyes were still staring unseeing at the ground. He looked up at Fíli's approach, trying to put on a smile but unable to, his eyes sad, and his own eyes red.

"Is she doing any better?" Fíli asked, still feeling the guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders, although it was somewhat lighter after his brief talk with his uncle.

Kíli shrugged uncertainly. "Maybe. She reached over and grabbed my hand a few minutes ago, but she hasn't said anything, and I don't know if she can really hear what we're saying or not. I don't think so, though."

Fíli sighed and sat down on the other side of Celia, drawing his knees up tight and wrapping his arms around them, sinking his head onto his knees. "Do you think she blames me?" he asked, his voice muffled. "That I could have done something, tried harder, to keep them from falling?"

There was a pause before Kíli spoke, his voice measured, although still thick with grief. "No. Not if I know anything about Celia. She knows you, and she knows that you saw Ele- her sister as a close friend. If anything, you're probably hiding some sort of pain or injury from the way you held them, and you're trying to hide it because you blame yourself." Fíli stilled, trying not to give anything away. His brother sighed. "And there it is. You're not saying anything about it because you think it's your fault, don't you?"

Fíli lifted his head and glared at his brother. "And so what if I am? I hardly think that that matters at the moment, considering what's going on right now. And even if you are right, and Celia, by some miracle, doesn't blame me, then I still do. I was there, I knew what she was going to do, and I couldn't stop it!"

Kíli looked at him with sympathy. "Fee... You said it yourself. You couldn't have done anything. And you're clearly hiding some sort of injury that you got while trying to help them. What happened was... awful. Horrible. It's even worse that you had to see it happen. But it doesn't change the fact that you couldn't do anything. And what do you think Elena would do if she were here? She'd tell you the same thing. She chose to do so to keep you alive. It's awful, and I don't think any of us will ever be the same again, but it could have been worse."

Fíli looked over, surprised to see his little brother's eyes swimming with tears. "Because what if she had held on, and you'd fallen with her? I know you would've held on as long as you could. Because nobody would have been able to hear you, or help you. Nobody would have known what had happened. We probably would have thought that you'd..." he stopped, swallowing before continuing. "That you'd been killed by the goblins. Or worse, taken alive, and kept for them to do who knows what with."

He paused again, Fíli's eyes fixed on his brother. "It's almost better, this way. To know for certain that they're gone, that they couldn't be hurt by the goblins. Rather than to never know for sure, always wondering if we'd left you all to face torment with no hope of rescue."

He looked Fíli in the eyes. "I wish, more than anything, that they were alive and in front of us right now, so that Bilbo could steal our moneybags again, just to show that he could; and Elena was here, so I could tell her about what it really meant for her to steal that dagger off of you all those weeks ago, and see her stammer in response."

He huffed a laugh that almost sounded like a sob. "And I'd give anything to have my friends back here again so that someone I've come to see as one of my best friends doesn't sit in front of me like she doesn't know me, doesn't sit like her entire world has just come crashing down in front of her, and my brother doesn't blame himself."

His free hand clenched into a fist. "But as awful as all of that is, it could have been worse. So please, for the rest of us, don't wish that we had lost someone else as well. Elena wanted you to stay alive, so don't dishonor her memory by wishing she had failed."

Fíli's eyes widened. "Uncle said almost the same thing."

Kíli raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, Uncle can be wise at times. Maybe you should listen to us, then."

His older brother shrugged unhappily, hiding a wince as he did so. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

Kíli sighed, but seemed to understand that he wouldn't be able to go further then that, and they sat in silence for a while, trying to comfort Celia with their presence, if they couldn't do anything else.

A hand grabbed Fíli's, making him jump before he realized that it was Celia. He looked over to see her, gaze still fixed on the ground, but her hand holding his tightly. "Celia?" he asked, watching her closely, his hand curling around hers reflexively.

"Don't." her voice was quiet, and sounded hard.

He flinched, loosening his hand around hers, realizing that she blamed him after all. "S-sorry. I-I thought -"

Celia reclaimed her grip around his hand. "No! I need..." She stopped. "I know you're exactly the type of person to do this, so I'm going to say it. Don't blame yourself. Elen- she wouldn't have wanted you to. She made her decision on her own, and you couldn't have changed her mind no matter how much you tried. If it's anyone's fault, it's certainly not yours." Her voice was flat.

Fíli furrowed his brow, noticing his brother watching her in concern.

"Celia?" Kíli said hesitantly. "Are you... Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "If I think about it too much I'll never stop, and I'll break down, and then I'll start crying, and, and..." her jaw clenched, her hands tightening around theirs. "I can't let myself think about it," she repeated, rocking slightly. "I won't." Her breaths were growing slightly unsteady as she blinked rapidly, trying to hold back tears.

"Celia," Kíli said gently. "It's all right if you do cry, you know. We're grieving with you. Bilbo and Elena were our friends, but they were your family. You don't have to be ashamed to cry... No one will judge you for showing that you loved them."

Celia stopped rocking and looked at him, green eyes shimmering with unshed tears. He smiled at her reassuringly as best as he could, a few tears of his own present in his eyes. She swallowed hard and pressed her lips together, trying to keep from letting everything spill.

"I don't - Why did they have to die?" she demanded at last. She sagged, hanging her head. "They weren't supposed to die. Not like this." Her last words were a whisper that they had to strain to hear. "It's all my fault."

The two brothers stared at her in shock. "What are you talking about?" Kíli demanded. "How is this in any way your fault?"

"Because it's my fault they came along!" she finally burst out. "I was the one who wanted to go first, and Elena wouldn't have gone along without me, and if it wasn't for us, Bilbo probably wouldn't have wanted to go, at least at first, and he'd be safe at home still, and if it wasn't for me, they'd still be here!" Her voice broke. "It's all my fault they were here in the first place, and it's my fault that they're gone now." Tearing her hands from theirs, she curled up into herself and buried her face in her hands.

Kíli's face fell. Looking at his brother, he could see the same expression. While they both had expected grief, anger, denial, neither of them had expected any guilt. Kíli hesitated, then put his arm around her shoulder and drew her into a hug, somewhat surprised when she just buried her face in his tunic and kept her face hidden. "Celia..." What do you even say to something like that? "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is," she whispered, her voice muffled by his tunic. "It has to be. There's no way it could anyone else's fault."

"We needed a burglar," Kíli reminded her. "So Gandalf chose one for us, and he chose Bilbo. So it's kind of our fault too. And I think we all know how stubborn Elena is- was," he faltered before continuing. "None of us would have been able to drag her along if she didn't want to go. She would have chained herself to a tree if she had to. And something tells me that Bilbo wasn't just a pushover either. He made his own decision to go on this quest. I told Fíli earlier, and I'll tell you the same thing now. It's horrible, yes, but don't take away the right they had to choose."

Celia laughed brokenly, sounding more like she wanted to cry rather than laugh. "You're right. That's exactly the type of thing she would do. She would dig a hole and bury herself in it before - before..." her breathing hitched. "Oh, Kíli," she sniffed. "They're down there, and they won't even get a decent burial, and their, their bod-" she couldn't bring herself to complete the word. "There are _things_ down there, creatures, that might try and -" she couldn't hold it back anymore. Letting out a sob, she broke down completely, soaking his tunic as she sobbed, finally accepting what she had been trying to deny for the past hour.

Kíli rubbed her back sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Celia. I'm so sorry," he told her, hugging her tightly, his voice breaking a little too. Fíli joined them a moment later, his own sadness joining theirs. Wrapping themselves together, they huddled together while Celia let her heartbreak out.

When she finally sat up who knew how much later, her face was red, and streaked with tears, but her posture was lighter. "I -uh, sorry. For... that," she muttered, her face growing redder as she gestured at Kíli's wet shirt. "And for breaking down like that. But... thank you. I needed that," she said, eyes low.

"Hey." Kíli slung an arm around her shoulders. "Don't ever apologize for letting us be your friends. We'll always be there for you when you need us, just like we know you'll be there for us."

She tried to smile gratefully. It probably flopped, but it was as close as she was going to get. She wiped her face and struggled to her feet. "I should go wash up real quick. Your uncle will probably want to be leaving soon," she muttered heading over to her bag and using her water flask to wet a piece of cloth in an attempt to clean her face.

Fíli and his brother watched her go, worried expressions on their faces. "I've heard of people shutting down after situations like this, then having a meltdown, and then starting to accept it, or heal... do you think that's what this is?" Kíli asked him in an undertone.

Dwalin, coming up behind them, answered. "Sorry lads. I don't think so. It's still too raw. The good thing though, is that she was willing to let her emotions out, at least. I was starting to get a bit... apprehensive." His face was as stoic as ever, betraying no hint of emotion.

Fíli frowned, turning to look at his old weapons teacher. "Why is that such a good thing?"

Dwalin eyed them both for a minute. "You remember how she was before that, right?" He waited for their nods before continuing. "She shut down. It's a survival mechanism. Keeps you from hurtin', but it's not necessarily a good thing. I've seen a lot of it in warriors fresh from battle, and those waiting back home who get news of loved ones who've been lost. I've seen it in your amad and your uncle even, as a matter of fact. So it's good to see her grieving. It means she's not shutting it all away."

Fíli huffed. "She blames herself for what happened, even though there's no way it could have been her fault."

The older warrior eyed him for a minute. "Sounds like a familiar situation to me. What happened was no one's fault, except for maybe the goblins. Blame them all you want, but don't blame yourself."

He paused. "Your uncle says we need to leave now. Best to get as far away as possible before dark. You want to let Lady Celia know that we're leaving? She probably would take it better from you than from any of the rest of us. She's closest to you two." There was something in his eyes that Fíli and Kíli, from a lifetime of training, knew to identify correctly as teasing.

Kíli raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded. "Sure. I'll go let my _friend_ know what's going on," he agreed, emphasizing the word.

Dwalin smiled in a way that was supposed to be innocent, but was nowhere near it, though suitably subdued to fit the situation. "We'll be leaving in five minutes. Better be ready."

Kíli rolled his eyes at him as he left and and turned to his brother. "Can you get our packs ready, and I'll let Celia know?"

When Fíli nodded, he walked over to Celia and quietly let her know what the plan was. She nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything, moving silently to make sure she had everything.

Once the five minutes were up, and Thorin told them all they needed to move out, he and his brother looked at each other and nodded once, the same plan in both of their heads. Quickly following her, they joined up on either side of her. They might have lost one of their friends, but they were determined not to lose her as well. The day had taken enough from them.

As they left, surrounded by the closest people she had left, Celia turned and looked back at the mountains behind them, her heart simultaneously grieving and empty. She was wrong about one thing, she realized. It didn't really make her feel any better in the long run, but it gave her some small comfort to pretend it did.

One of her regrets had been her family's lack of a proper burial. Now, she realized... they had one of the biggest monuments in the world.

The Misty Mountains.

* * *

 **A/N: There seems to be some misplaced guilt lying around this chapter... Let me know if you find it... I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to go to me...**

 **I apologize if this chapter isn't up to par with my usual... We got one of our first snows yesterday, and of course it had to be a freaking blizzard, so... guess who ended up putting their car in the ditch? *raises hand* I'm all right, and I was able to get out... it just shaved a few years off of my life, and has stressed me out just the tiniest bit...**

 **Also, guys... We're officially over 100,000 words with this chapter! WOW! I never thought I'd be writing this much for a story when I wrote my first oneshot on pinterest!**

 **Getting back to the story... I know the last two chapters have been a bit gloom and doom, but... _if_ , and that's a big if, I were to decide to bring Elena and Bilbo back, there would be lots of fluff once everything got settled. However, right now, it could go either way. **

**Poll's still out on whether or not you guys want me to bring Frerin in. I've gotten some feedback, but... only a little bit.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed (Guys, I'm at over 50 follows now, Thank you!), and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, ColdOnePaul, and E for reviewing!**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal: Definitely... I don't think either of them has thought about being each other's one's, yet, but... still very sad. Poor Fíli...And yeah, she kind of did... but... things are a bit different here... the ring might still pop up somehow. ;) Thanks for reviewing!_**

 ** _ColdOnePaul: Ehhhh... I don't know... Bilbo's kind of in trouble too, you know...I guess we'll have to see... might be a bit before we find out if either of them survived... Thanks for reviewing! :)_**

 ** _E: Well... I guess we'll find out soon enough... either way, it will be revealed for sure in the next two chapters at least... Gollum still has a part to play, after all, even if it's just to be the villain, so don't forget about him... and thanks for your vote! Also, I still love how you totally predicted that something bad was going to happen... Don't worry... either way, there will be happy times ahead again soon... you might want to call your dentist... Thanks for reviewing! I love hearing from you every week!_**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, but Celia's all mine (and Elena, or at least, I used to before I dropped her off a cliff)**


	20. Chapter 20 - Conceal, Don't Feel

**The readers have spoken, and I have answered... but I make no promises... And finally, things will probably come across as a bit strange and disjointed this chapter. That's because it's from Celia's pov, and she's kind of out of it right now. Just wanted to let you know. :D**

Celia slowly followed in the footsteps of the Company, feeling as if she were walking in a fog. When she had first gotten the news about her sister, she had felt her blood rushing in her ears, and sat down before she could pass out. Fíli and Kíli were able to get her through that just by being there. Then, when she had broken down almost immediately after getting through _that_ , they had been there for her as well.

Now... well, she wasn't sure that anyone would be able to help her now. She wasn't sure she wanted to be helped. And if she was being really honest with herself, deep down, she wasn't really sure of anything right now.

Well, maybe of one thing. Fíli and Kíli were worried about her, and they had enough on their plate to deal with right now. They were grieving as well. So if she was sure of anything, it was that she didn't want them to worry about her any more than they already were.

So when they looked worriedly over their shoulders at her, she shoved her burning grief deep inside her, and did her best to meet their gaze and appear rational. She couldn't smile - didn't know if she ever would again - but she could at least make herself look as close to normal as she could.

So when they spoke to her, her voice was calm and collected, though she felt like screaming and crying on the inside. Her eyes were dry, but burned from holding back tears. Her face was expressionless because she knew if she let the cracks show, she would break, and might never get fixed. Her movements were methodical because if she let go of her control, she might never stop running. And if they asked, as they always did, if she was all right, the answer was the same.

"I can keep going." Because she could. Because she couldn't lie, and say she was all right. She knew she wasn't. They knew she wasn't. But they had to keep moving.

Thorin had pulled her aside earlier, asking if she was all right with moving on, with a gentleness that would have surprised her had she been capable of feeling anything. She'd looked him in the eye and told him she was.

"I can keep going. The mission's not over yet."

It was meant to be reassuring - she hadn't forgotten about the quest. Instead, his expression had changed. There had been empathy there - hadn't he lost a brother, once? - and something else. Grief and understanding.

But not for her sister.

For her.

He'd nodded once, and clasped his hand to her shoulder briefly before moving on, not offering any sympathies. He didn't have to - it was all in the touch, the parting glance he threw her way, mixed with worry, before he'd assumed his stoic persona once more.

He knew what she was going through. He was a soldier, too. She still had a mission. That's how she was holding on. She had to complete her mission first, then, and only then, would she let herself feel anything. So there were no sympathies - she didn't want them, nor would she let them touch her. If she did, she might break down, and she wouldn't be able to complete her mission. She doubted she would be able to do anything at that point.

So she slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder, hiked her pack up a bit higher, took a deep breath, and met the eyes of the others and spoke honestly when asked. Because she _was_ all right, really. She had no physical injuries besides the long cut on her forehead that had already stopped bleeding, was able to think straight, and was completely focused on the mission. So she was all right... right?

Someplace deep in the back of her mind, where she had locked away everything she had deemed unnecessary, like emotions and worries, something spoke up hesitantly. A fact from her training days before becoming an paramedic. Something about the five stages of grief.

She accepted the thought clinically, and examined it logically. Remembering the different stages, she thought about it as she walked and supposed she was probably somewhere in either denial or depression. She accepted the thought, dismissed it, and moved on. It wasn't important right then.

Walk forward. Look up, meet someone's worried glance - Fíli's this time - nod reassuringly, look down, repeat. It seemed to go on forever, but she never got bored. That was an advantage, at least, of this lack of feeling. No more getting bored due to consistent travel.

Walk forward. Look up - the sky was getting darker. That was new. Looking around, she could see the sun starting to set in the west. They were still moving down the mountain, trying to get as far as possible before nightfall.

But not far enough, apparently, as warg howls pierced the air. Everyone tensed and looked around automatically. Though she didn't feel the deep piercing fear anymore, Celia still felt the blood begin to run a little faster through her veins.

"Out of the frying pan," Thorin muttered, looking at Gandalf and placing his hand on his sword.

"And into the fire," the wizard finished, the lines on his face looking deeper from the stress of the day. "Run! RUN!"

The group took off running down the mountain as fast as they could, following Gandalf's lead. The wargs seemed to be a fair distance away, but they were gaining. The howls told them that. They were growing slowly closer, sounding angry and baying for their blood. They ran for what seemed like hours. Celia didn't know. But she became vaguely aware that night had fallen, and they were running with the light of the moon to guide their way.

A few snarls sounded terrifyingly close as some of the wargs caught up with them. They were quickly dispatched by the warriors at the end of the group - Fíli and Kíli having moved her to the front as soon as they heard the howls - and kept going.

They all skidded to a stop when they reached a large outcropping of land, some pine trees growing on it, but nothing else to help them escape the jaws behind them, trapping them. The scene looked familiar to her, but she didn't have time to think at through as Gandalf urged them on.

"Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb!" The wizard headed for the furthest tree and clambered up.

"Celia, I'm going to give you a boost, you need to climb up, now!" Kíli was beside her, face white in the moonlight, simultaneously worried and stern. She nodded, placing her boot into the hands he provided her and reaching for the branch high above their heads.

Fíli steadied her as she scrambled for some footing, then boosted his brother up as well. Once they were secure, Kíli reached down and helped him up, before they all climbed to the higher branches, Celia and Kíli drawing their bows. By the time the wargs came up to them, snarling, all the dwarves were safely in the trees.

Everything went still, then, as a huge white warg came striding up, bearing its hideous rider. Even with her dulled emotions, Celia still felt a wave of repulsion and fear wash over her.

Azog was huge, particularly now that she had lost about a foot in height. Scars ran across his body, and the claw that replaced his left hand only added to his menace. The white warg growled. Azog stroked it with his remaining hand, a sinister sneer upon his face.

"Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast? Ganzilig i unarug obodnauzdanish, Torin undag Train ob," he spoke contemptuously in the Black Speech. ( _Do you smell it? The scent of fear?_ _I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.)_

Thorin stared at him, face stricken with pain and grief, understanding every word. "It cannot be," he breathed.

Azog's eyes met his, an evil smile appearing as he held up his right hand and opened it, revealing a small, dark blue bead upon it that bore silver-colored runes. Tilting his hand, he let it fall to the ground, where it bounced silently before rolling by a rock. "Kod, Toragid biriz," he ordered the other orcs. ( _That one is mine.)_

"Wo-" he was cut off as an arrow slammed into the leather cuff above his arm, knocking him backwards before he regained his grip, his eyes swinging to the source.

Celia froze as she realized the eyes of everyone in the clearing, dwarf, warg, and orc, were now fixated upon her. Though she knew it was hardly the place, or the time, and she still felt empty inside, she felt something surge up within, taking over temporarily. Slowly lowering her now empty bow, she put on an innocent grin and raised her arm to point at Kíli, who stared at her incredulously.

"Really?" he deadpanned. "You've been out of it all day, and _this_ is when you choose to come back?"

Azog's face darkened as he ripped the arrow out of his cuff with some difficulty. "Worori da!" he roared. _(Kill the others!)_

At his command, the other wargs leapt forward and tried to climb the trees, breaking the lower branches in their efforts as the dwarves scrambled higher. The trees shook as they threw all their weight at them, and the dwarves clung to the trees, trying not to get thrown out.

"Sho gad adol!" Azog urged them viciously. _(Drink their blood)_

With the continual efforts of the wargs, the tree furthest from the edge of the cliff slowly began to teeter, eventually tearing away from its roots and starting to fall, forcing the dwarves inside to jump to another tree. Unfortunately, the wargs continued to jump on them, knocking over that tree as well.

Celia watched them with mild concern, slinging her bow over her shoulder. She didn't want them to die, but she didn't see how she could help, even as a domino effect seemed to begin, as the trees slowly began to fall on each other.

They were in the second to last tree. If their tree fell, they would only have one more tree before they would fall off the cliff. Their luck for the day, already low, seemed to run out then, as the remaining dwarves jumped onto their tree, only for it to tilt ominously as well.

"Celia, you need to jump! Now!" Fíli's voice shouted in her ear.

She nodded, watching as the others started to jump towards their last hope. Waiting until the tree tilted a bit closer to the other, she jumped at the last minute, feeling the branches scratch at her face as she grabbed hold of a branch and clung on for dear life, one of the dwarves grabbing her arm and hauling her all the way up. She sat up just as their old tree fell to the earth with a crash, leaving what was left of the Company stranded in the tree.

Azog looked up at them and laughed mockingly, knowing that they were trapped.

Celia slung her bow off her shoulder again and gripped it in her hand, drawing another arrow. She would have to use them wisely, due to the limited amount she had available, having already used some in the goblin halls, but she was not going to let the Company go down without a fight. She flinched backwards when a ball of fire streaked past her face and flared up on the ground, making the wargs leap back in fear.

Azog snarled.

"Fíli!" A moment after Gandalf's shout, another ball of flame shot past.

Only this time, Fíli caught it, and she was able to see that it was, in fact, a pine cone he had set alight. He tossed it back and forth between his hands a few times before aiming it at one of the wargs and throwing it, bouncing it off its nose and making it yelp in fear.

This seemed to set of a literal spark, as suddenly everybody was throwing flaming pine cones, setting up a barricade of fire between them and the dwarves. Even Celia got to throw one or two, and she couldn't help but feel a little thrill of satisfaction as the look of fury on Azog's face continued to grow with each new flame and cheer that came from the dwarves.

Their cheers didn't last long, however, as the weight of everyone on the tree, combined with its weakened roots, caused it to give way at last. Celia wrapped her legs around the branch she was sitting on and clung to the trunk as it fell, giving a small cry of fear as her grip was jarred loose by the impact with the ground.

She felt her heart drop to her stomach as the tree came to a stop, resting precariously over the edge of the cliff. Instead of sitting upright in a tree, she was dangling from one of the branches, trying to hold on. Across from her, she could see that Ori was in a similar state.

Ori cried out in fear as he lost his grip on the tree and fell. He managed to catch onto Dori's leg and hold on, but his weight meant that Dori's grip began to fail as well.

"Mister Gandalf!" Dori wailed as he slipped. Moving quickly, Gandalf swung his staff down for Dori to hold onto. Latching on, Dori looked down at his little brother. "Hold on, Ori!" he ordered.

Celia, hanging by her hands from a branch, strained to lift herself up. She could hear Azog growling in the background, and, remembering what would happen, tried even harder to climb up. She almost lost her grip as she remembered that this time, if Thorin attacked Azog, there would be no Bilbo to help rescue him. Which meant she had to try. Gritting her teeth, she tried one more time to lift herself up onto the branch.

Two hands reached down and grabbed her forearms, startling her. She looked up to see Fíli bracing himself against the trunk and trying to lift her up. "Don't you dare let go," he snarled. "I won't let you."

Staring at him with wide eyes, she nodded.

Heaving himself backwards, he managed to lift her up enough to rest her arms over the branch, giving her weary hands a break. Sitting back on his heels as she took a few deep breaths to get her breathing back under control, his attention was caught by a majestic figure striding by. The two of them, along with everyone else on the tree, stared in shock as Thorin strode by, balancing on the tree as if it were a flat path, heading towards Azog with vengeance in his eyes.

Changing to a run, Thorin charged towards the white orc, oaken shield and sword in hand. Azog threw his arms open wide as if in welcome, a smug smirk crawling onto his deformed face. Crouching over his warg, he waited until Thorin got close enough, then roared as his mount leapt at him. Thorin tried to block it, but the warg hit him in the chest with one of its paws, smashing him to the ground.

Everyone watched with bated breath as Thorin regained his feet, panting. Azog moved his warg back, then swung around and charged at him again, smashing his club against the dwarf king's face, and sending him flying into the ground again with a brutal impact.

"Noooo!" Celia heard Balin cry out, and struggled to regain her feet once more as Azog roared in triumph.

Raising her arms up, she almost had her leg over the branch when the warg struck once more, clamping its vicious jaws around him. Celia flinched as he cried out in pain, her arms dropping her once more as her hands became unsteady. Around her, the others were trying to get up as well. Fíli was completely focused on Thorin now, trying to get to his feet on the unsteady tree.

"Thorin! Noo!" Dwalin shouted, struggling to get back on the tree, but dragged down by his weight.

But even trapped in the mouth of a warg, Thorin didn't lose his cool, and swung the heavy pommel of his sword into the monster's head. Snarling in pain, it flung him several feet away, onto a flat rock. The dwarf king lay where he fell, nearly unconscious, his sword hanging limply in his grasp.

"Biriz torag khobdudol," Azog commanded, pointing his mace at the dwarf, his pale eyes glittering with malice and triumph. _(Bring me his head.)_

But before the orcs could do anything, another voice cut them off; triumphant in tone, filled with a hard humor, feminine in pitch, and completely unexpected.

"We are _not_ going to attack - right now!"

And that was when chaos erupted.

 **xXx Earlier that day xXx**

When Elena awoke, everything hurt.

Everything.

Primarily her head, but she swore she felt the top of her feet aching. Her next thought was that she had gone blind. Or, you know, to quell the heart-stopping panic that had illogically surged through her at the thought, maybe she had just forgotten to open her eyes. It was a harder task than she remembered it being, but she managed it. She opened her mouth to groan as even the dim light that was available was enough to spark her headache once more, but whatever sound she may have made, if any, was covered by an angry shout.

"You stay away from her! If you come near us again, I will use my sword! Stay back!"

Then came a hissing voice she knew all too well. "It's got an elfish blade, but it's not an elfs. Not an elfs, no. What is it, Precious? What is it? It takeses our foods from us, why does it do that?" Gollum. Celia must be re-watching the movies. Which meant that the other voice she had heard...

"Bilbo... Notroyal. My name is Bilbo Notroyal."

Elena frowned. That wasn't what he was supposed to say. His name was Bilbo Baggins. The only reason he would have for giving a false name, were if he were to know that it would be a bad idea to give away his name, but how would he know that? He wouldn't know what was going to happen...

A memory flashed through her head then, seeming unbelievable. _"Uncle Bilbo, if you ever, while on the quest, happen to meet a stranger who wants to know your name and they seem suspicious, don't tell them your true name. Make it up. Switch it around. Whatever. Just don't give away who you are. It's important."_

 _His confused brown eyes met hers, but nodded in acceptance._ _"All right, Elena. I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll have to come up with something fitting. Now don't you have practice with the Bounders?"_

 _She smiled cheekily at him. "Yeah. Have to keep up on my training so I can look out for you, right? You're part of my family now, so that's my job."_

 _She turned to go, waving as she left. She was almost out the door when she heard him say something in response, something she wasn't sure she was supposed to hear. "You're my family too. I'll look out for both of you on this trip, whatever it takes."_

Her eyes flew open with a quiet gasp as memories flooded her mind. She was in Middle Earth with her sister, they had gone on the quest with the Company and - they had fallen. In a completely different place than they were supposed to! How had they survived? Especially with the two of them? She felt the throbbing in the back of her head increase temporarily, before dropping again.

The hissing voice dragged her back to the present. "What's a notroyal, precious?"

A cheeky reply soon followed. "It means that I'm a notroyal, obviously. I'm a... Flurrgaburrahobbit from... the Hill. And that is not food, that is my friend! And I won't let you touch her, so just... stay back! I'll use this sword if I have to! I don't want any trouble, do you understand? I just want to take my friend and be on our way, so if you could show me the way out of here, I'd be very grateful."

"Why? Is it lost?" Gollum's voice was even more menacing when she couldn't see it.

She tried to sit up, but felt too weak, as well as afraid of drawing their notice, and perhaps distracting Bilbo. Instead, she tried to unobtrusively shift her head until she could make out what was happening. Bilbo stood with a defiant pose in front of her, sword in hand. Near the edge of her line of vision, she could make out a pale, greasy body covered only by a dirty loincloth.

"Yes, and I would like for us to get un-lost as soon as possible." Bilbo's voice was firm, and his sword never wavered as he held it up in defiance.

The pale form suddenly straightened, his voice now much friendlier than it had been before. "Ooh! We knows! We knows safe paths for Flurrburrhobbitses! Safe paths in the dark." Evidently that was Smeagol.

Elena could have laughed at the way he'd jumbled the already convoluted name, but his voice changed a moment later, reminding her that she and Bilbo were both in a very dangerous situation with an unstable murderer - and she couldn't move.

"Shut up!" Gollum had returned.

"I didn't say anything." Poor Bilbo sounded confused.

"Wasn't talking to you."

"But yes we was, precious, we was." Hello, Smeagol.

"Look, I don't know what your game is, but -" Bilbo tried to get his point across, but Smeagol cut him off.

"Games? We love games, doesn't we, Precious? Does it like games? Does it? Does it? Does it like to play?" Smeagol was bouncing around almost like an excited puppy.

"... Maybe?" Bilbo tightened his grip on his sword.

There was some shuffling before Smeagol spoke again excitedly. "What has roots that nobody sees, is taller than trees? Up, up, up it goes, and yet, never grows."

Bilbo stared at him for a minute incredulously, then huffed a breath. "The mountain."

Smeagol began laughing uproariously. "Yess, yess, oh, let's have another one, eh? Yes, come on, do it again, do it - do it again. Ask us!" he begged.

Then, like a switch had been flipped, his voice became a murderous growl. "No! No more riddles. Finish him off. Finish him now. Gollum! Gollum!" he snarled.

Elena could see him rush at Bilbo. She tensed, wishing she could stand. But though she was feeling better with each moment that passed, she still lacked the strength to get up by the time she would need to. And she didn't even know where her axes were.

Bilbo held up his hand to stop Gollum, and began speaking in a rush. "No! No, no, no. I wa- I want to play. I do. I want to play. I can see you are very good at this. S - so why don't we have a game of riddles? Yes, just, just you and me."

In a flash, Smeagol was back. "Yes! Yes, just, just - just us."

Bilbo nodded. "Yes, yes. And if I win, you show me and my friend the way out."

"Yes, yes -" Smeagol stopped, and snarled, reverting to Gollum. "And if it loses, what then?" He stopped and crooned to himself. "If it loses, then we will eats them!" He laughed and turned back to Bilbo. "If it loses, we will eats you both."

There was a pause. Elena knew Bilbo, and could tell that he was thinking rapidly, trying to come up with a plan. He glanced back at her, and from the way he suddenly tensed even more, she could tell that he knew she was awake. "Fair enough," he agreed.

"Well, Notroyal first," Gollum insisted.

Bilbo hesitated, put on the spot, then rose to the challenge. "Thirty white horses on a red hill. First they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still."

Elena clenched her fist as Gollum tried to come up with the answer. "Teeth?" He must have seen the answer in Bilbo's face, because he began to laugh throatily in triumph. "Teeth! Yes, my precious, but we - we only has nine of them." He paused, his voice as menacing as the dark mountains surrounding them. "Our turn. Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters."

"Just give me a minute," Bilbo told him, tightening and releasing his grip on his sword. Elena knew that if they were anywhere else, he'd be pacing back and forth, but here, he was staying firmly in between her and Gollum.

"Oh, oh! We knows! We knows the answer!"

"Shut up!" Smeagol and Gollum switched back and forth at dizzying speed.

"Wind! It's wind. Of course it is." Bilbo tried to play it off.

"Very clever, Flurraburrohobbit, very clever." Elena bit her lip. It wouldn't do for her to laugh in such a dangerous situation.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" Bilbo spoke up hastily, sounding worried and raising his sword again. "A - a box without hinges, key, o - or, or lid; yet golden treasure inside is hid."

Hissing filled the air as Gollum tried to think of an answer, earning himself some mocking from Bilbo before eventually guessing eggs as the answer. He returned with one of his own, vanishing into the darkness as he did so, growing ever closer to taking Bilbo from behind. When Bilbo finally guessed it right, he grew even angrier then before.

"Last question. Last chance." When Bilbo didn't come up with a riddle immediately, his voice grew harder. "Ask us. ASK US!"

"Yes, yes, all right," Bilbo stammered. He walked back and forth slightly, although making sure to keep an eye on Gollum at all times, and keeping himself between her and the creature. A moment later, he stopped. "What have I got in my pocket?" he murmured.

"That's not fair! It's not fair! It's against the rules!" Gollum pouted, taking that as the question; before a loud thud echoed through the cavern, making Bilbo jump. "Ask us another one," he sulked.

"No, no, no, no. You said 'Ask me a question.' Well, that is my question," Bilbo defended himself. "What have I got in my pocket?" Bilbo backed away slightly as Gollum crept closer.

"Three guesses, precious, it must give us three," Gollum protested.

"Very well," Bilbo agreed. "Three guesses, guess away."

Laying behind him, Elena silently willed her body to regain strength faster, feeling helpless as she listened to the conversation.

"Handses!"

Bilbo raised his hands in the air. "Nope, guess again!"

"Fish bones, goblins' teeth, wet shells, bat's wings... Knife!" the creature tried before spinning on himself. "Oh, shut up."

"Wrong again! Last guess," Bilbo informed him triumphantly.

"String!" Gollum said immediately, before spinning around and hissing, "Or nothing."

"Two guesses at once; wrong both times," Bilbo replied. A horrendous sobbing filled the air, and Elena had to forcibly keep her hands from moving to cover her ears. "So, come on then, I won the game, you promised to show us the way out."

The sobbing stopped as suddenly as it had started. "Did we say so, Precious? Did we say so?" His voice grew closer, his voice more menacing. "What _has_ it got in its pockets?"

Elena tensed as she realized just what exactly Bilbo had in his pocket.

"That is no concern of yours," Bilbo said firmly, holding his sword towards Gollum. It didn't waver, but she could hear the worry in his voice. He was preparing for a fight. "You lost."

"Lost? Lost? Lost? Where is it? Where is it? No! Ahh! Where is it? No! No!" There was the sound of frantic scrabbling as Gollum tossed various items around the cave in the search for his precious. "Lost! Curses and splashes, my precious is lost!"

"What have you lost?" Bilbo asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Mustn't ask us, not its business," Gollum wept. "No! Gollum! Gollum!" There was a pause as the sobbing slowly ceased before the voice that promised murder was back. "What has it got in its nasty little pocketses?" His voice grew more hysterical in speech. "He stole it. He stole it! Ahh! HE STOLE IT!"

Bilbo let out a yelp and dodged to the side suddenly as a rock went flying past his head and bounced off the ground, rolling to a stop by Elena's head. "If you want it, you'll have to catch me," he taunted, darting out of her line of sight and leading Gollum away from her. Soon, even Gollum's shrieks and yells vanished into the darkness beneath the mountain.

As soon as all was still, eyes flickering everywhere she could see to look for a possible threat, Elena slowly sat up, groaning softly as new bruises seemed to come to life, tensing in anticipation of some new threat. Once it became apparent that nothing was going to happen right away, she began to look around in an effort to gauge her surroundings.

She was lying by the wall in the middle of a cavern, with a large lake lit by distant light some yards distant. There were rocks and fish bones scattered all over, but the sight that brought her the most joy, was her pack lying a few feet from her, where someone had tossed it.

The unpleasant thought occurred to her that Gollum might have found her, and thought it was useless, and so left it in favor of pursuing... her. It was a distasteful thought, and she quickly shook her head to get rid of it - regretting the action as soon as she did it, and crawling on her aching knees over to it.

Looking it over, she was pleased to see that it was mostly intact, but she had a moment of panic when she couldn't find her axes. She closed her eyes in relief when she looked down and saw them, sitting snugly in their sheathes, on her waist. Pulling them out, she felt much more secure with weapons in hand. The next thing on her list was finding any major injuries on herself.

A quick rundown of her limbs and chest seemed to reveal no broken bones, which was a miracle considering she thought that had fallen quite a ways. She didn't remember all of it, but she knew that Bilbo had fallen a fair distance in the original storyline, so she was surprised there wasn't any injuries. At least, until she felt her head.

The moment she touched the back of her head, she flinched away and gasped at the pain that radiated from the area. That, and the sticky wetness that coated her head and hand, made her realize that she hadn't escaped without harm. And judging by the cut area she had felt... it was a somewhat more significant injury than just a headache.

She rifled through her pack, trying to find something to act as a bandage. She knew head wounds bled a lot, and so could be less serious than they looked or felt, but she had still evidently lost a lot of blood, so it was best to prevent any further blood loss.

She had just pulled out a bandage roll that had been tucked at the bottom for emergency purposes when a hiss echoing through the cavern made her jump and reach for her axes.

"Elena!"

"Bilbo?" Her eyes widened as the hobbit ran into the cavern, looking incredibly relieved to see her sitting up. "What are you doing here? What about Gollum?"

"I took care of him. Let him show me the way out, then knocked him out with the hilt of my sword. Took note of the way, then came back here to get you. You have no idea how good it is to see you awake, by the way," Bilbo explained, kneeling by her and taking the bandage from her hands.

"I nearly had a heart attack when I first saw you. Took a few years off my life," he scolded her, looking over her head wound before grimacing and starting to wrap it. "This isn't the best course of treatment, but right now we need to get out of here before he wakes up. Do you think you can stand?"

Elena shrugged, then winced as her head began to throb again. "I dunno," she muttered as Bilbo pinned the bandages in place. "Maybe?" She waited until Bilbo had stood again and, putting her pack back together and slinging it over her shoulders, she took his hand and let him pull her up.

She swayed a bit as she stood, Bilbo steadying her with one hand and reaching in his own pack with the other. "Hang on, I think we have time for some water really fast." He offered her his water skin, and she drank the cold water thirstily.

Resealing it, she handed it back to him and watched him replace it. Placing on hand on her shoulder to be both a support and a guide, and taking his sword in the other hand, he started to lead them out of the cavern. "I think I remember the way back, but we'll need to be very quiet," he whispered. Elena nodded, following his lead.

They crept silently through the rocks, taking a few specific turns here and there. All too soon, they saw light - actual, blessed light up ahead, through an opening in the rocks. And in front of them, lay the still form of Gollum. Both of them tensed when they saw him, Bilbo readying his sword in case it was a feint.

"Stay here," he told her, leaning her against the wall. Moving forward, he gently prodded Gollum with the flat of his sword. After a minute of careful scrutiny, he nodded and Elena stepped forward, carefully stepping over him and breathing a sigh of relief once they were in the tunnel. A sound from the prone form behind them made them both look back in alarm. "He's waking up," Bilbo realized. "We need to leave. Now."

Grabbing her arm, he hastened them down the tunnel, towards the light source. They were nearly outside - she could see trees in the distance - when they heard it. A piercing shriek of rage and hatred that followed them as they left the gloom of the mountain behind and entered into the relative safety of the sunlight.

"Notroyal! Thieves! Curse them and crunch them! We hates them forever!"

* * *

 **A/N: So... Elena's alive! Is anyone surprised? Glad? Mad? To be honest, I considered leaving this chapter on a cliffhanger again (I had a perfect one... it was literally perfect) but, it's getting late, and I wanted to keep with my schedule and post on a Tuesday, plus the chapter was nearing its normal length, so... yeah. On the down side, no happy reunions this chapter... but I promise there will be lots of fluff and joy, and possibly screaming when it does happen!**

 **Also, a few quick notes:  
A) The bead that Azog dropped was Thorin's father's (AKA Thrain's) bead. Him having it basically meant that he had (or at least used to have) Thrain in his possession/imprisoned/dead.**

 **B) Bilbo's name was a spur of the moment decision based off of the fact that he was not thrilled at the thought of being considered royalty way back when they were all still in the Shire. He's got a sense of humor, and like the rest of us, it often comes out at the most inopportune times**

 **C) And yeah. That was totally a quote from Night at the Museum 2. It wasn't my favorite movie, but I always loved that line.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, LadySwiftSword, PugLife4ever,MaggYme, ColdOnePaul, and E for reviewing!**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal: Hahahaha, umm... sorry? At least things can maybe start to get better now..._**

 ** _LadySwiftSword: Your review made me laugh so hard. :D I'm honored you like my story (And characters) enough that you want them to have a hapy ending. Well, here you go! They're alive! Fluff to come next chapter! :)_**

 ** _PugLife4ever: (Awesome username, btw). Awww, I'm so glad you like it! And they're back now!_**

 ** _MaggYme: Awww, it did? I'm glad that it was enough to make you feel that much. And I like your names, haha - the meet and greet, as we can see, isn't exactly going spectacularly well. More on that next chapter. And who said Bilbo won't be there to save King Stubborn? (love that nickname, it's hilarious) Hope you like this new chapter! :)_**

 ** _ColdOnePaul: Eesh. I'm glad your story ended well, esp. with your brother along! (I hate driving in winter weather now). And thanks! Hope you like this new chapter too!_**

 ** _E: Aww, don't worry! There's some Elena/Bilbo familial love for you! And don't worry about repeating youself. It just means that you like my characters, and that makes me thrilled. :) And thank you for your input! I kind of want to bring him in, but when I do, it's not gonna be a happy scenario, at least at first. Just to warn you. Lots of fluff next chapter (if all goes to plan)._**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, but Elena and Celia are all mine.**


	21. Chapter 21 - Consequences

~~ Elena~~

Elena was sure they looked like zombies, staggering down the mountain and covered in blood as they were, squinting in the bright sunlight. Bilbo had dried blood covering his forehead, and she knew that the bandages wrapped around her head were rather loosely wrapped, and she was willing to bet that there was still some blood seeping through the bandages in the back. Her head was still hurting, but the fresh air and the water she was drinking helped immensely, which was a good thing considering their current situation.

The Company was gone.

She huffed out a sigh as she looked around the empty clearing, where she could tell that they had rested. Her time spent with the Bounders in the Shire meant that she had at least some tracking skills; and a group of fourteen dwarves and a wizard would have a hard time leaving no signs at all, particularly if you knew what you were looking for. She looked down at a scuff mark in the dirt that bore the mark of a boot she knew well. Most of the footprints had been obliterated, but this one was still somewhat noticeable.

"That's Celia's bootprint," she pointed out for Bilbo. "So we know at least she made it out alright." Her fist clenched reflexively.

Her sister most likely knew that she had disappeared by now, and probably believed that she was dead, along with the rest of the group. She flinched at the memory of Fíli reaching desperately for her, yelling her name. Her little sister and her next closest friend both believed she was dead, and she wasn't sure which thought hurt more - that Fíli had to believe he watched her die, or that her sister had to believe she never got to say goodbye.

"My guess is they moved on," Bilbo commented. "If Fíli thought he saw you die, and me go with you, then they probably wouldn't have waited for us. We'll need to go after them." He looked around the clearing. "It's probably an accurate enough guess to say that they went down the mountain, the only question is in which direction." He scanned the hillside, as if they might see the group in question waiting for them.

Elena nodded, taking another swig from her water skin. "It should be easy enough to tell the direction." She pointed at some marks on the ground, then further down the mountain. "The trail leads that way. We should get going, though. They're being followed by Azog, and we need to stay out of his way, if at all possible. If we get captured, there's no one to come after us."

Bilbo nodded somberly, his fingers splaying out over one of his pockets. Elena eyed him, biting her lip. She was well aware of the fact that Bilbo now held the weapon of the dark lord, and had to restrain herself from commenting on it. The less Bilbo knew about the ring until it was time, the better. She didn't want him focusing on it anymore than necessary - or herself. She didn't know if she could be tempted by it, and she didn't really want to find out for herself if she could.

"Right. Let's get going," she said briskly, setting off down the mountain in a trot, following the general direction of the trail left by the others. "We'll need to keep moving if we want to catch them."

Bilbo hummed in agreement, easily keeping up with her, although she could tell after almost two years of living with him that he was distracted by something, most likely his head wound, as it looked rather painful. It seemed to have stopped bleeding, however, and they were in a hurry, so she let it be. Once they caught up with the others, Óin or Celia could look at it.

They were fairly fit, particularly after the time they had spent journeying already, so they were able to keep the pace they had set for a good length of time, before they slowed down to a walk, eventually returning to their previous pace. Elena stopped every now and again to ensure they still had a trail to follow, but the Company had essentially gone straight in one direction, making it easier for them to track. They followed that routine for several hours, thus saving some reserves of strength for if they needed it later.

It was nearing dark when they first heard the howls from somewhere to the front and side of them. Elena tensed up instantly, hand going to her side, where she knew one of her hidden knives was kept, after a few lessons from Fíli on the best places to hide them. Beside her, Bilbo had also stopped, and was scouting the horizon warily, hand on his sword.

"It's Azog," Elena said, her concerned look meeting Bilbo's. "He's picked up their scent. And if things still end up sort of the same, even though we're not there yet, then we need to get going. But carefully. We don't want to end up ahead of the orcs, and get caught."

Bilbo nodded, a serious expression on his face as they took off at a run, following the howls of the wargs ahead of them.

They kept running for as long as they could, stumbling occasionally over branches and roots as the sky grew darker. The howls were growing closer, though, and seemed to stop moving at one point. Elena felt her stomach clench as she realized that the hunting party had found the Company, and must have trapped them by this point, and she couldn't help but flinch when she heard a crashing noise a few minutes later. A crashing noise that sounded a lot like trees. Trees that the Company were most likely occupying.

They skidded to a halt as they came to the top of a hill, peering over the edge of a bush as they looked down on the scene below. Azog, surrounded by a group of wargs and their orc riders, were standing in a half circle in front of an outcrop of land, where a lone pine tree was standing, bearing what looked like the rest of the Company in its branches. For a moment, it looked like they were doomed.

Then, the only tall member in their group, more visible than the others in his gray robe, leaned down and plucked something from the tree before touching it to his staff and making it glow a bright orange in his hands. A second later, it went flying out towards the pack beneath them, sending them yelping backwards in fear of the fire as it flared up on the ground in front of them.

"We've got to get down there," Elena whispered urgently. "I don't think that that tree can hold them for long! Plus, I think the orcs are distracted. If we're careful, and quiet, they shouldn't notice us unless the wind starts blowing the wrong way and carries our scent to them."

"Follow my lead," Bilbo told her. "You may have worked with the Bounders, but I've had years of practice at sneaking unseen. I'm going to aim for that fallen log behind the pack, do you see?" he asked, gesturing towards a large log that lay a short distance behind the now distracted pack. More of the glowing objects went flying out, hitting some of the wargs, and starting more fires on the ground, creating a somewhat secure barrier between the two parties.

Elena forced herself to keep breathing normally as she followed Bilbo as he slunk down the hillside, placing her boots where his bare feet trod and careful to keep crouching down, while keeping a wary eye on the situation below. They were about halfway down when the last tree finally gave way, crashing to the ground and hanging precariously over the edge of the cliff, and Elena's hand found Bilbo's when she heard the cries of fright from the group, one of them her sister's.

He squeezed her hand tightly, then released it, speeding up his pace a little. Elena had to focus more on the path now, only flicking her eyes up now and again to make sure that they hadn't been found out, or that an orc or warg wasn't coming after them.

They had just reached the bottom when she heard Azog shout something to Thorin, before laughing cruelly. They crouched behind the log, watching in concern as the dwarf king seemed to snap, rising to his feet and somehow, despite the situation, managed to stride majestically towards the pale orc, who was far more hideous and terrifying in person than he had been on a screen.

Thorin charged at Azog, holding his shield and sword in his hands. Unfortunately, he was ill prepared to deal with the white warg leaping at him, and was knocked back, before getting back up only to be pummeled down again.

Elena snarled as she watched her leader get snatched up in the maws of the murderous creature. Unsheathing her axes, she got them ready for battle, holding them in her hands. Beside her, Bilbo held his sword at the ready, the weapon glowing a bright blue in the presence of the orcs. Then, before everyone's horrified eyes, the warg sent Thorin flying into a rock, leaving him nearly unconscious on the ground, and wholly unable to defend himself.

"I'll distract them, you get to Thorin," Elena whispered.

Bilbo nodded, his expression fierce. "I'm ready," he announced, holding his free hand near his pocket as Azog growled a command in the black speech.

Elena jerked her head forward, and Bilbo took off around the side of the log, and though she couldn't be sure, she could have sworn that she saw him disappear as soon as he rounded the edge of it. But there was no time for that.

Leaping over the log, she brandished her axes in both hands and shouted, "We are _not_ going to attack - right now!"

Almost as one, everyone in the clearing turned to stare at her. Letting out a war cry, she charged at the nearest orc, hacking at his throat with her axe and killing him before he had time to react. Forcing herself to not think about the horrid squelching sound her axe made, she immediately spun away and sliced at another orc, bringing him down before a warg leapt at her, and she was left scrambling to keep out of its greedy jaws as it lunged for the kill.

In the back of her mind, she could vaguely make out the war cries of various dwarves as they ran to join the fight, and as she turned to keep the circling warg in her view, she could see Bilbo appearing out of nowhere and tackling and stabbing an orc that was standing over Thorin, before swooping over and grabbing something off of the ground, then returning to his protective stance over Thorin.

Then the warg made a feint forward, and her whole attention returned to the monster in front of her. When a blur of motion caught the corner of her eye, she twisted instinctively, feeling the wind whistle past her cheek as an orc sword narrowly missed her. Ducking underneath it, she shot out with her foot towards the orc's stomach and sent it stumbling backwards far enough that she was able to turn back to the warg.

Her eyes widened as she saw it crouch in preparation to leap and, praying she wasn't about to die, ducked into a forward somersault and rolled as it leapt, feeling its back paws brushing her back as it did so. Staggering to her feet, she swung around and couldn't help a relieved snort when she saw the warg land atop the now presumably dead orc - at the very least, it wouldn't be moving any time soon; and considering where its claws had landed, it would find a hard time fighting when it did.

She fell back into her wary crouch when the warg turned back to her and snarled, its jaws bloody. She didn't have the chance to fight it, however, as another axe swung into the warg's side, causing it to crumple to the ground with a whimper, before the light in its eyes went out. She looked up to see Thorin's bodyguard standing in front of her, an inscrutable expression on his face.

"Might have known you'd find us somehow. You're too stubborn to die properly and get it over with; you have to come back and haunt us." The words were gruff and sarcastic, but Elena could see the the relief in his eyes. "It's good to have you back, girl. Now we just need the burglar."

Despite the serious situation, and the cries and snarls around them, she couldn't help but grin at her weapons teacher. Then her smile fell from her face as a familiar cry reached her ears. Darting around Dwalin, she stopped short as her eyes locked with her sister's, holding onto a tree branch for dear life as she dangled over the cliff.

Shoving her axes into their sheaths so that she could help her sister up, she began to run towards her, avoiding any orcs in her way. Celia's eyes widened when they saw her, her mouth falling open. Then the branch she was holding onto gave way, and she fell from the tree with a scream.

"Celia!" Elena's horrified cry filled her ears, hearing Kíli doing the same.

She began to run forward, only to let out another cry when she was suddenly plucked from the air by an unknown mechanism, something hard wrapping tightly around her arms. She continued to freak out as she was lifted over the battlefield, or what was left of it, and suddenly over the edge of the cliff, before being dropped again. She screamed, closing her eyes as she fell for the second time that day. Then she felt herself land with a grunt on something soft, and tentatively opened her eyes to see that she was sitting on the back of a giant bird - no, eagle.

Eyes wide, she slowly raised her self a little, though still clutching onto the feathers for support. Looking around, she could see giant eagles circling the entire area. Some held dwarves on their back, while others were swooping down to pick up dwarves or wargs, and either dropping them onto the back of another eagle, or letting them go to plummet off the cliff.

Still others were fanning the flames with their wings, causing them to rise up even higher. Remembering how her sister had fallen, she forced herself to sit up a little higher, and looked around for the familiar sight of black hair.

The eagles seemed to be done with their mission, as they began flying in a single direction away from the outcropping and leaving Azog shouting furiously behind them. On an eagle to the left of her, she could make out Bilbo, looking ahead of him worriedly and holding several items in his hands, although one of them appeared to be Thorin's oak branch.

On another, she could make out both Fíli and Kíli, both looking forward, again in great concern.

Ahead of them, she could see, hanging limply in an eagle's talons, the unresponsive body of Thorin Oakenshield.

"Thorin!" Fíli shouted, worry filling his voice.

Beside him, Kíli could only sit silently, his fear for his uncle obvious.

Then Elena looked over, and her heart skipped a beat. Because on yet another eagle to the front of her, she could see the silent, still form of her sister on the back of another eagle. She was conscious, that much she could tell from the way her fists were clenching and releasing before clenching again in the eagle's feathers. But the way she was hunched in on herself, was a sign that something was very much wrong.

She opened her mouth to call to her, then stopped. If she drew attention to herself, that would cause a ruckus that no one could deal with right now, as they were all separated from each other. She was almost completely positive that once everything was figured out, she was going to either be strangled, or smothered in hugs.

Or, possibly, both at the same time.

Also, even if she was able to get her twin's attention, she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it, as they were too far apart for her to treat any injuries her sister might be hiding.

She groaned and let her head hang forwards. This was a huge, convoluted mess that had hurt a lot of people, and the only bright side to the entire day was that Bilbo now had the ring. And even that was mostly negative, as it meant that one of the best people she knew was now in possession of a corrupting device of great evil, that could, and almost certainly would, destroy all of Middle Earth if it got into the wrong hands.

Not to mention the fact that in a few decades, Sauron's most evil servants would soon be hunting the ringbearer. And if that wasn't Bilbo, then it would be his nephew. Who, while a bit of a moron in the movies and far smarter in the books, was still completely undeserving of the pain that it would put him through.

Still. People hardly got to choose the paths that they were forced onto. She knew that - neither her, nor her sister had ever asked to be taken to a different world and away from the only family that they ever knew, twice. And while they had both mourned the loss of the Durins in the Battle of Five Armies, they had never desired to be sucked into the world where they could change it, but only at the risk of being killed themselves, as she had just painfully found out. Her head throbbed at the thought, a tight band seeming to wrap itself around her temples.

She let herself think of what would happen if she were to be offered the chance to return home, where nothing would have changed.

Would she accept it?

She frowned as she mulled the increasingly tempting thought over. Back where none of this would have happened. Where her sister wouldn't believe that she had died. Where neither of them had almost been killed multiple times by creatures that would never exist back home. Where the Durins would still die, yes, but they would be fictional characters, so it wouldn't matter, and maybe they wouldn't be able to change things anyways.

Maybe the Durins were always doomed to die. Maybe the only reason for Elena and Celia to be here was to watch them die, and ensure that Bilbo and the ring were kept safe until Frodo was able to take it. Maybe the only reason they were here was just to fail, to remind them that they couldn't control what happened, that everything was meaningless, that they shouldn't try to change anything, that nothing had any point.

Maybe she just had to accept that in the grand scheme of things, she was meaningless-

Her head snapped up straight at the thought, her eyes flashing open, unseeing, before her vision asserted itself. Where had that come from?

She drew in a deep, shuddering breath, belatedly realizing that she had been holding her breath while her thoughts spiraled around dizzyingly inside her head. She forced herself to repeatedly take deep breaths until her chest was no longer shuddering. Once she had calmed, she took the thoughts that had just run through her mind, and assembled them in order, trying to look at them with what little was left of her rationality after the taxing day she had had.

First of all, she was not meaningless. No one was. Everyone was born for a reason, she firmly believed that. Life had a meaning, and she had a purpose. It was all right if she didn't know exactly what it was, no one knew exactly how their life was going to play out. She just had to live for others.

Second, she knew that she could change things from what they knew - she had already seen that. She had already changed things herself, and the blood on Bilbo's face, when he had been unharmed originally, was physical proof of that. And there was no way that she was just going to stand by and let the Durins die without at least trying. If they still died, it would only be because she had tried her darndest, and failed.

She scowled as she was reminded of another thought, her fists clenching automatically. And as for back to her old world, well. The only thing she really missed, besides AC and hot water, was her mother. But her mother was safe back home, and the Durins weren't. It didn't matter that they were supposedly fictional characters back there; here they were very real.

They bled when they were attacked. She had seen Thorin smile when his nephews were laughing wholeheartedly at some story, watching them with a fond look on his face. She had seen Kíli sit up blearily in the morning, half awake, his hair sticking up in virtually all directions with a chronic case of bed head.

She had seen Fíli tackle his brother after one too many jokes, leading to a scuffling match that somehow led to Bombur being declared the winner after threatening to sit on them both for getting to close to the soup he was preparing.

She had felt pride when Thorin nodded at her approvingly. She had felt mischief and fondness when she saw Kíli and Celia shooting arrows together, both mocking each other incessantly in a way that belied the strong friendship she knew they had.

And she had felt the warmth inside when Fíli slung an arm over her shoulder while they watched their siblings, remembered the warm glow when they bantered. And she had seen the heartbreak on each of their faces, when Fíli almost died, or when Fíli had to watch her fall.

So, no. They weren't just fictional characters. Right now, to her, they were living, breathing people who had become close friends to her. And she wasn't just going to abandon them in their time of need.

Besides. They were still a ways away from the mountain, and it was a group filled with males. Who else was going to ask for directions?*

So with a sigh, she bundled up the daydream where she was back home, and none of this was real, and reluctantly shoved it out of her mind, determined to do what she could change things for the better.

Instantly she felt the pressure around her temples release, and sucked in a long breath as the pain disappeared. She sat up straight, eyes wide. There was no way that it was a coincidence that her headache (at least for the most part) disappeared as soon as she decided against wanting to go back. She had read far too many sci-fi novels to believe otherwise.

So what was it then? A test? From who? An answer immediately popped into her head, and her eyes slid over to where Bilbo still sat, obviously uncomfortable, on the eagle's back. Except she hadn't felt tempted to use the ring at all. So it probably wasn't that.

Maybe Galadriel? She knew the elf lady was able to do such a thing. Except she wasn't likely to call people meaningless. Or maybe something else?

She huffed a silent, sarcastic laugh. Or maybe it was just her subconscious telling her she needs a break before she completely loses it. Either way, she was firmly decided on what she wanted to do.

She didn't have time to think anymore on the subject as the eagles began circling for a landing over a massive rock structure shaped like a bear that was slowly growing more clear in the increasing light of the dawn.

She had hardly noticed that they had been flying through the night, and wondered at what point her arms had become numb. Shaking them to remove the tingles, she looked over the group and felt her shoulders sag when she saw that Thorin was still unconscious as he was dropped gently to the ground, the eagle flying off once it had released him.

The eagle she was on began to lower, before landing on top of the rock. She slid off, and nodded her thanks to the bird. She could have sworn she saw it nod back before taking off, the rest of the eagles doing the same.

She felt a silent presence by her shoulder and looked over to see Bilbo, watching Thorin nervously. As soon as Gandalf landed, he took off running for Thorin, kneeling over the unconscious dwarf king as the rest of the Company gathered around him anxiously.

"Thorin. Thorin!" he tried waking him. When there was no response, he sighed, placing his hand over Thorin's face and muttering a few words under his breath. A moment later, Thorin's eyes fluttered open and he gasped for air, everyone else simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief.

"The hobbit?" Thorin muttered, searching the group. "I saw him. I know he's here."

"It's all right," Gandalf assured him. "He and Lady Elena are both here. They are quite safe," he added, looking at the two with a weary twinkle in his eye. "And apparently, they are both quite alive, as well. It is good to see you both."

Thorin moved to sit up, and Dwalin and Kíli instantly stepped forward to help him stand. But once he was firmly on his feet, he shrugged them off and advanced towards Bilbo. Elena stepped back slightly, knowing what was going to happen, and knowing it needed to happen. Bilbo shot her a slightly nervous look out of the corner of his eye, and she smiled reassuringly.

"You! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" Thorin shouted menacingly at her adopted uncle. The dwarves stirred uncomfortably, exchanging confused glances, as they had all seen the hobbit defend Thorin - although where they had seen him come from, no one could say. "When I first saw you, I believed you to be unfit for the task. A burden, who would only drag us down with him. That you would never survive in the wild, and had no place among us as a warrior or a friend."

Thorin advanced until he was face to face with the nervous hobbit.

Gone was the steely warrior who had defended her staunchly against Gollum's greedy clutches. In his place was her regular, lovable, stuffy old uncle, who was looking up at Thorin very worriedly.

"Never have I been so wrong," Thorin declared, pulling the startled hobbit into a tight hug. Elena cheered triumphantly with the rest of the dwarves as Bilbo slowly lifted his arms to return the hug. "I'm sorry I doubted you," he apologized softly.

Bilbo shook his head after Thorin released him. "No. I would have doubted me, too. I'm not a hero, or a warrior, or even a burglar." His eyes landed on Elena, then flickered over to where she could make out her sister standing silently besides Fíli and Kíli, a smile flickering at the edges of her lips as everyone chuckled. "I'm just fighting for the same things you are, I guess. I may have my home, but you don't. And I will help you take your home back, if I can."

He paused, obviously feeling a little uncomfortable in the stunned silence that followed. "Oh! And, I think this is yours. Or, at least, someone's," he added awkwardly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small blue bead with silver runes on it. "I didn't think it belonged to the orcs, so I grabbed it when I saw it. Do you know who it... belongs... to?" he trailed off as he saw Thorin's eyes fixed upon it.

Picking it up from Bilbo's outstretched hand, Thorin held it with a hand that was not wholly steady. "This... belonged to my father," he said in a barely audible tone. "Azog had it, and with it, most likely my father's life. I... thank you, for giving it to me."

Elena's eyes widened as she realize what the bead really represented. Thorin's fingers closed securely around the bead, holding it tight in his hand as he looked up, emotion visible on his face for a moment before his face changed and he strode forward, eyes fixed upon the horizon.

Everyone's gaze followed him to a solitary peak in the far distance, seeming to hold a majestic splendor even at the great span between them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked, a look of awe upon his face.

"Erebor - the Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle Earth," Gandalf said, watching the hobbit with a look of pride upon his face.

"Our home," Thorin declared softly, looking on the single mountain with slight nostalgia, seeming to inspire awe even from the distance.

"A raven! Birds are returning to the mountain!" Óin cried, pointing at a brown bird that fluttered by, chirping.

"That, my dear Óin, is a thrush," Gandalf corrected him, sounding fondly amused.

"But we'll take it as a good sign - an omen," Thorin declared.

Bilbo smiled, watching the mountain with the others. With the light of the sun rising behind them and shining upon the Lonely Mountain, it seemed to have an almost ethereal beauty about it. "You're right. I do believe the worst is behind us,"

Elena smacked her face into her hand.

* * *

 **A/N: We have officially reached the end of the first movie! *celebrates* Also, we are now officially at 1,000 reads ! Thank you all so much! You're all amazing! And I know, I know, we didn't really get any of the fluff this chapter. Well, I promise it will be there next chapter. Probably so much of it that you'll need a dentist! ;)**

 **As for what happened with Elena on the eagle, well... for now, we'll just say that she merely had a moment of, shall we say, crisis, and dealt with it herself, coming to a realization of just what Middle Earth meant to her. :D**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Illogical Human, PugLife4Ever, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yep! Honestly, I feel like she would have tried something either way, so why not have her do something humorous while I'm at it? And yeah... unfortunately, Fíli and Celia are both a bit traumatized from what happened, but hopefully they'll both get some comfort next chapter. :) And Bilbo did remember, so now the ringwraiths won't have a good place to look "Notroyal! Hill!" Yeah, not seeing it, lol. Bilbo and Elena are back, and ready to... be coddled by their friends next chapter. I hope you like this chapter!**_

 _ **Illogical Human: Haha, I'm glad you liked my characters enough to be worried! And, because it's Christmas, I can promise that everyone will survive at least until Smaug attacks Laketown. ;) Hope you like the new chapter.**_

 _ **Pugife4Ever: Awww, thank you, that's so nice! Just so you know, I post every Tuesday, but getting feedback from awesome readers like you is incredibly motivating, so don't discount what you can do! And it's not too weird, don't worry, lol. I'm the typical female fangirl sitting in her parent's basement at *checks time* 12:37 am, typing madly away at her laptop and cackling madly. Hope that satisfies your curiosity. XD Thanks for reviewing ! I love hearing from my readers. :)**_

 _ **E: Yeah, Celia's still in there, but she's kind of shut down to protect herself from any more pain. :( And yep, they're alive! And will be, as long as Fíli and Celia don't smother them in the next chapter, lol... no promises! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas!**_

 **I know I already said this, but may you all have a truly Merry Christmas! And thank you all for being with me so far in my story! :)**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Elena and Celia.**

 ***No offense is intended to any males who read this, I'm merely poking fun at a stereotype ;)**


	22. Chapter 22 - Reunion

~~ Celia ~~

Celia honestly didn't know how she was supposed to feel anymore. Finding out your only two remaining family members had fallen off a cliff to their demise? Grief, denial, anger, sure. That's a normal response to death.

But then you're the one dangling over a cliff, and you see them come back and attack an orc leader who's sworn to destroy the family of the dwarf leading your group.

And there's not really a set response for that.

But she had seen the blood on Bilbo's face, and the bandage wrapped around Elena's head, and knew that while it was a miracle that they had survived, they hadn't escaped unscathed. So when she ended up on the back of an eagle (when had this become her life?), she used the time to force herself to acknowledge all the crazy emotions she was feeling, and dispose of them properly so that she would be fit to treat everyone's injuries once they landed.

So by the time they landed, she had mostly come to terms with the day's events, had shed a few tears just to get it out of her system, and had forced down her raging desire to smother her uncle and sister with hugs and never let them go.

Then they had landed, and Thorin hadn't gotten up, and Gandalf had done something to heal him, and then he and Bilbo were hugging, and the day was looking so much better, and -

"I do believe the worst is behind us."

 _Aaaand Bilbo jinxed it_ , she thought with a sigh, smacking her hand to her face.

She could hear another smack as Elena did the same thing, and suddenly it was like a dam had been broken. Everyone surged forward, clapping Elena and Bilbo on the back, or the arm, and congratulating them on their survival, or on their skills in fighting the orcs, all talking over each other.

Celia slipped through the excited mass of dwarves until she reached her sister, the dwarves stepping back as they saw her, and all pretending to be occupied with something else for their reunion, although she doubted they were actually _that_ interested in the number of rocks on the Carrock.

Elena started to smile when she saw her, then stopped, her smile wavering and falling off her face, her brown eyes filling with tears. Rushing forward, she pulled her sister into a hug, burying her face into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I know - I know what this must have done to you, I can see what it did to you, and I'm so sorry. I know you're probably mad, and you have every right to be. Just, please. Please don't hate me. I don't think I could bear it."

Celia let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob, wrapping her arms around her sister in return. "Elena."

Her sister held her tighter at the sound of her name.

"I'm not - I didn't think I would ever see you again. I promise, I'm not mad. I'm not mad at all. I'm just so glad to see you." She closed her eyes, feeling a tear slip past and trickle down her cheek. "I- I thought you were dead." She wiped her face and tried to blink the tears from her eyes as she pulled back slightly so she could look her sister in the face.

"But you're not allowed out of my sight. Ever. That goes for both of you," she added, reaching out and pulling Bilbo into their hug.

He laughed, and if it sounded a little watery, no one said anything. "Well, I don't really plan on wandering off anytime soon, so there'll be no arguments from me."

Celia released Elena reluctantly, nodding towards where Fíli and Kíli were waiting, mixed emotions present on their faces. "I think you should go talk to them," she said softly, tilting her head towards the princes. "I know _someone_ 's feeling a little bit guilty."

Elena's shoulders sagged. "I hoped he wouldn't, but I suppose I should have known it was inevitable." She looked at her sister cautiously. "You're not feeling guilty at all, are you?"

Celia looked her in the eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think I would tell you if I were?"

Elena frowned but didn't say anything, choosing instead to embrace her again quickly before heading over to the brothers, a somber expression on her face before she was swallowed up by two fierce hugs. Celia felt her lips twitch up in a half smile, but didn't feel able to pull up anything stronger, too tired after the day's roller coaster of emotions. Instead, she turned to her adopted uncle, who was watching the scene with a smile of his own on his face.

"Is your head bothering you at all?" she asked, eyeing the dried blood on his face.

Bilbo's hands flew up to his wound and and prodded at it gently, wincing slightly as he did so. "Well, now that you mention it it is," he groused. "Thanks for reminding me." He dropped the act when he saw how concerned she looked, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Celia, I'm fine, really. I'm battered, and bruised, and my head is aching like Lobelia Sacksville-Baggins is banging her umbrella against it, but I'm fine. I'm fairly certain I got worse injuries as a fauntling."

"Speaking of injuries, you, Lady Elena, and Thorin all need to be checked over for injuries," Óin ordered gruffly, wandering up and startling them both. "Fíli told us about that fall you took, and we need to treat any injuries now, so that they don't get worse later."

"I believe you are right, Master Óin," Gandalf interposed, leaning over slightly and watching Bilbo with interest. "I may have saved Thorin's life, but there are still some wounds which should at least be treated with a poultice; and I believe we would all benefit from a wash to cleanse us of the stench of the goblin caverns." He turned to Celia. "There is a river down below, which we may all use to clean ourselves off. I trust you would not be against Óin treating your uncle and Thorin, while you looked after your sister?"

Celia nodded, though Óin looked hesitant. "I may need Celia's help with a bit of the work," he cautioned them. "Thorin is a bit stubborn when it comes to letting himself be treated, so perhaps the glare of two stubborn healers will quell him enough for us to look him over. Your uncle should be just fine, though, right, lad?" he added, glaring at Bilbo warningly.

The hobbit held up his hands in surrender. "Yes. Absolutely. I've lived with Celia for a year and a half before joining this quest, and my mother knew some of the healing arts as well. I promise there will be no trouble. I know all too well what it's like to be on the receiving end of a healer's rage."

The elderly healer nodded in satisfaction, his glare melting into a warm smile. "Good. You all seem to be fit enough, with only minor wounds, so I think we'll wait to expose them until we reach the river Gandalf mentioned, so that we'll have fresh water on hand to clean them. Best not to risk opening them again until then." He spoke up, but not to anyone directly. "So be careful climbing down. I don't want to have to stop halfway down because some _fool_ got hasty and tripped and fell and hurt himself worse."

"That's no way to speak to your king, Óin," Thorin called over to them, his voice filled with humor. "Careful, lest I declare Lady Celia to be the chief healer, and demote you to the herb picker."

"I can't hear any rude comments anyone might be making," Óin called back, winking at Celia. "Anyone who's feeling fit and healthy, with no wounds that they may be hiding, can see that I don't have my hearing trumpet. Though I suppose that explains why Fíli didn't notice it either."

There was a startled "What?" from Fíli, followed by denial, only for that to be followed by a pained yelp as his brother prodded his shoulder gently.

Óin rolled his eyes at Celia. "Make that four nitwit patients we'll have to treat."

Celia stared at him for a minute, then felt her first real smile and laugh of the day come to her face. It was small, and short-lived, but it was there, and she saw Óin try to hide a satisfied smirk in his beard at her reaction.

"All right, let's move out before Óin reveals any more secrets we'd like to keep that way," Thorin ordered, standing with a pained grimace that wasn't missed by either of the healers. "The stairs are likely to be too large for us to navigate safely alone, so everyone needs to work in pairs, at the least. Lady Elena, Mister Baggins, and Fíli, take extra care. There have been enough injuries today, and we don't need anymore."

"Which is why you'll be letting me help you down the steps, along with Dwalin," Óin said, seizing the opportunity and stepping forward to gently grasp the king's arm, ignoring the annoyed look he received. "You'll want to set a good example for the others to follow, right?" He tilted his head at Fíli and Elena meaningfully, making the dwarf leader subside with a withering glare and grumble. Óin remained completely unwithered, and started to lead him towards the stair with a carefulness that was at odds with his words.

Celia looked at her uncle hesitantly, wanting to help her sister, but not wanting to leave him alone either.

"It's all right, Celia. We've got him. We'll make sure your scatterbrained uncle doesn't go haring off on any more rabbit trails." Bofur looked down at her with a grin, placing his hand on Bilbo's shoulder, while Nori did the same on his other side.

"Aye. Can't have our burglar getting lost again, can we?" the thief mocked.

Bilbo glared at both of them. "I'll have you know that I was able to lead Elena through those underground caverns to the outside, in near darkness, and with the possibility of an insane killer waiting for us at the end. If we have to worry about anyone getting lost, I believe it's our fearless leader. How could anyone get lost finding Bag End? It's one of the biggest smials in the Shire! And yet he somehow missed it, twice!"

Bofur tried to hide his laughter, and merely snorted. Nori, however, was not so considerate of their king's dignity, and let out a hearty guffaw. "I knew there was a reason I liked you, Bilbo," he said, clapping him on the back. "We dwarves have a pretty good sense of navigation underground. Above ground, though, some of us struggle a bit more. Thorin..."

"Is one of those people?" Celia guessed, listening to the information with interest.

Nori snorted and shook his head, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Nah. Thorin just gets lost, plain and simple. I've heard tales of him getting lost back in Erebor when he was a wee dwarfling, just going from the arena to the library. Granted, though, Ori's gotten lost in the library in the Blue Mountains, so that might not be saying much. People seem to have a knack for getting lost in libraries. 'S why I never go in one unless I have to."

"And here I thought it was 'cause you couldn't read," Bofur mocked him. "Are you sayin' that's not the only reason?"

Nori reached behind Bilbo and whacked the miner across the back of the head. "I can read well enough to know that you were the first one from your clan to volunteer for the quest."

Seeing Celia and Bilbo's questioning looks, he grinned and explained briefly. "I wasn't just a thief. I was Thorin's 'secret' spymaster back in the Blue Mountains. He told me that if I had to employ my talents in that particular direction, he might as well put me to use instead of locking me up and not benefiting either of us in the long run. He offered to wipe my slate clean if I agreed to work for him and stop thievin' from the general population."

Nori sniffed haughtily. "As if I ever did in the first place. Still, he offered me a chance when no one else would. 'S why I agreed. But nobody could know I work for him, so I don't really get to throw my weight around. But that's all right. I'm more useful on the streets, and working from the shadows than in the light."

He cast an appraising look at the miner, who was listening to this conversation with interest. "And the only reason I'm even telling you this, is because I personally checked you out myself, and know that you're trustworthy." He leveled a glare at the cheeky miner, evidently knowing he was about to say something mocking. "And because I know that if you step out of line, I'd put a knife in your hat quick as a wink."

Bofur assumed a hurt expression as his hands flew to his hat protectively. "No! Not my hat!" He sighed, putting on a forlorn appearance. "I guess that means my secret mission to tell everyone that Nori really is as sneaky as he looks, will have to cease. I just can't risk my precious hat." He bowed his head, putting his hand over his heart. "All right, Nori. You win. I promise not to tell everyone that you're just as sneaky as you look. Even though we all already knew that."

Bilbo raised an eyebrow. "Assuming Nori meant that your head would still be _in_ your hat..." He shook his head. "Nope. I'm still not surprised at your priorities." He looked over towards the edge of the Carrock. "Ah. It appears that the rest of our group is leaving." He turned back to Celia. "If you want to go join your sister, I do believe that I shall be adequately protected by these two dwarves." He paused and shot her a cheeky grin. "And if worst comes to worst, and I do fall, I shall have two fairly padded bodies to land on."

Celia forgot herself and laughed at the protests that immediately came from the two dwarves. It was short-lived, but this time the smile stayed on her lips as she headed for her sister and their friends. She could still see Bofur and Nori out of the corner of her eye, and didn't miss the stealthy high-five they gave each other before hustling Bilbo towards the stairs, making sure they didn't jostle him too harshly at the same time. She rolled her eyes fondly, fairly certain that at least part of that conversation had been purely an attempt to cheer her up.

As she approached the others she could see Fíli and Elena arguing, Kíli standing off to the side with his arms crossed, and watching the pair in amusement. "What seems to be the problem?" she frowned. "We need to get started."

They all turned to look at her, Elena huffing in annoyance. "Celia, tell Fíli that I'm fine, and that he doesn't need to guide my every step down from here, because he needs to focus on his own injuries. If he tries to help me, he could just make his own injury worse. The more so because he won't let anyone see it."

Fíli rolled his eyes in turn. "I didn't say that. I said that I would help you down. My shoulder is fine, it just aches now and then. You're clearly wounded, and I can see the blood on the back of your head, which means that your wound's bad enough that it's leaked through your bandages."

Kíli snorted. "And I said that you're both idiots, because you're both injured, and that you should let me and Celia help you down, because neither of us are injured beyond minor scrapes and bruises." He looked at Celia pleadingly. "Celia, you're a healer. Will you tell these two idiots to just give it a rest?"

Celia looked at the rest of them gravely, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "So, if I'm to understand this right, Elena and Fíli don't want the other person to be hurt anymore than they already are, and they're arguing over that, and Kíli wants the uninjured people to help you out. Right?" Without waiting for an answer, she went on.

"So basically Kíli's being the smart one right now. That's supposed to be your job, considering all your jokes about being the eldest; but I won't blame you this time, since you're both injured and stressed, and obviously not thinking clearly. Now, Kíli and I are going to help you two mutton heads down this tower thing, without any more complaints, or I'm going to sic Óin on you. And trust me, you don't want that. He's probably got enough problems dealing with your uncle."

Elena sighed, giving in, and looked at Fíli apologetically. "She's right. You were just trying to look out for me, and I took out my stress on you unfairly. I'm sorry."

He shook his head, equally apologetic. "No, I was wrong too. I shouldn't have been so quick to argue, especially after the day you've had. I'm sorry as well."

"And now that we've got that settled, we need to leave. The others are waiting for us, and some of them have started already." Celia tilted her head towards the edge, where several others were already making their slow descent down the stairs.

"Kíli, you take my sister, please. She's more seriously injured, and will need more help getting down. I don't want to exhaust myself after only a few steps, and be unable to be of any more use. Fíli will just need some balancing." She looked the blond over scrutinizingly. "And possibly a sling. I'm going to let you be for now, for the sake of time, but if anything starts to hurt worse, or in a different way, you let me know. Got it?"

Fíli nodded, reluctantly accepting her arm as they made their way to the stairs.

"Celia, you're going to want to watch out for loose rocks when you drop on the stairs," Kíli called over to her, already on the first stair and turning around to help Elena down. "If you land on one, it could throw off your footing, and make you twist your ankle."

"Got it!" Celia nodded, waiting on the edge for them to clear the path; Bífur and Bombur waiting behind them to help if any problems were to arise on the trip down. The stairs weren't that tall in reality, being only a little over five feet, if she had to guess; but that still presented problems for everyone, as obviously they would have to jump down, and they wanted to avoid reopening or jostling any wounds.

Once Kíli and Elena were clear, Celia hopped down and landed with a grunt before turning around to face Fíli. "I'm not going to be able to catch you, unfortunately, but I can help you balance once you land." Fíli nodded, sitting on the edge of the stair and sliding down, landing with a hiss of pain as his injured shoulder brushed against the side of the Carrock. Celia eyed him for a moment, then pulled off her pack and began to rifle through it.

"Hang on," she ordered. "I think a sling might be the best for you anyways. Just a quick wrap to help keep your arm immobile until we can treat whatever's causing the problem." Pulling out a roll of bandages, she held the prince's left arm to his side, and began to wrap the bandages around it, bringing it to the other side of his chest and securing his arm. "I probably should have done this to start with," she muttered. "I don't know what I was thinking, just leaving it loose."

"It's all right," Fíli assured her with a smile as she secured the bandages with a knot, placed his arm in a quickly-made sling, and slung her pack back on, before hopping down the next stair. "Today has been... awful," he said bluntly. "For you more than anyone." He carefully slid down the next stair, grasping her arm to balance out the loss of his. "And it actually helps. Thanks."

Celia shrugged as they began the slow process all over again. "You got injured trying to help my sister. And, you know, there is the tiny fact that you're my friend. Plus, you're a prince, and if I ever want to move up in the world once we reach Erebor and get it running again, I'll need connections on the inside," she added with a teasing grin.

Fíli snorted. "Oh, I see how it is. You're not even using me for my good looks, you just want my status."

Celia muffled her laughter. "Obviously. If I wanted good looks, I'd go to Kíli." She stopped instantly, her hand flying to her mouth and her face growing bright red. "Wait. I didn't mean -"

"You didn't mean to say that you found my brother attractive?" Fíli teased her, a wide grin growing on his face. "It's all right if you do. I'm sure my uncle and mother would be fine with a marriage between her unruly son and a dwarrowdam who helped to save Erebor. Just think of what it would do to our _status_ ," he repeated her words from earlier with a snicker.

"Fíli, stopppp!" Celia whined, whacking his uninjured arm with one hand, and covering her still red face with the other.

He merely laughed harder, holding up his arm to defend himself, both of them stopping briefly to get down the next stair before Celia started hitting him again. "Hey! I'm injured! Be careful lest you break my majestic self!" he protested.

"What are you two doing?" Kíli asked suddenly, startling them both. He looked up at them curiously from the next stair as Celia went bright red again. "And why are you hitting my brother? Not that he probably doesn't deserve it, but what did he do this time?"

"She's using her status as a healer to tie me up and abuse me," Fíli cried, letting out a laugh and a muffled "ow" as she whacked him across the back of the head.

"I am not," Celia protested. "I'm keeping your brother in line, and at the same time, trying to keep himself from injuring himself further by putting his foot in his mouth!" She hopped down the next step and extended a hand to help him down. "And I'm merely continuing to help him down, despite his lack of recognition for my services, because I clearly have the patience of a saint, unlike _some_ people I could mention." She emphasized her sentence with a glare at the unrepentant prince.

"Just ignore them," they heard Elena tell him. "It helps them pass the time at any rate, and like you said, he probably deserves it."

Fíli finally stopped laughing as their siblings turned back to their own tasks, although a smile continued to twitch at the ends of his mouth. "Don't worry," he told her in a whisper that belied his previous teasing. "I know what it's like to have words come out of my mouth without context, and have them be taken the wrong way. In fact, I'm going to take it as a compliment, because you've probably noticed this, but Kíli looks remarkably similar to me in facial features." He puffed up his chest and pretended to flex.

Celia rolled her eyes, glad that her blush was finally fading. "Yes, you do. Is that why neither of you are married yet?" she retorted with a grin.

Fíli winced as if she had physically hit him, hiding a grin. "Low blow! Low blow!" He snickered. "You do realize that Kíli isn't technically even of age yet? And that I'm just barely there? I'm only eighty-two. Neither of us were ready to be married before now, and had no intentions of marrying any time soon," he pointed out. "Not unless we, Uncle, and Amad thought we were ready for it."

Celia shrugged, noticing in the back of her mind that she and Fíli were starting to breathe heavier from all the exertion and resolving to keep a closer eye on him. "Sure. Okay. Whatever you say..." she trailed off, letting doubt fill her voice. "That would explain why you act so childish all the time though, if neither of you are grown, yet..." She smiled as they continued their downward trek, enjoying their lighthearted banter, and knowing they both needed it.

xXx

When they reached the bottom of the Carrock, they all sat gratefully on the grassy ground and took the chance to get their breath back. Óin waited until they were all sufficiently relaxed to order almost everyone into the river to clean off, leaving on their pants for "the ladies sake," then instructed Celia and Elena to head around the bend of the river so they could have privacy while Celia looked her sister over.

"Stay with hearing range, and keep an eye out, just in case," Óin ordered them, gesturing to where the rest of the river was hid by a part of the forest jutting out, separating the two 'beaches.' "Gandalf will be keeping watch from over here, so he'll let us know if anything happens."

Celia nodded, grabbing her pack and leading her sister away. "I hope you use plenty of soap," she called over her shoulder as they strode away. "I'm pretty sure you lot need that more than bandages." There was a chorus of sarcastic comments shouted after them as they quickly became hid by the greenery, both of them giggling as they stripped down to their underclothes.

"Hey look! I completely forgot I still had this on!" Elena said with a laugh, gesturing to where her blanket was still wrapped around her waist. "I bet this saved me from a few bruises." She eyed a hole the size of a knife along her side, reaching just shy of her tunic, and quickly took off the blanket, resolving to say nothing about it."

"What I said about their stink goes for you too," Celia informed her sister, not noticing her preoccupation with the blanket. "I don't know what you landed on, besides your hard head, that saved you from cracking your skull open, but it smells like Bobby Cray's gym socks after basketball practice."

Elena crinkled her nose as a few hollers went up from the other side of the bushes. "Thanks for the reminder. I don't know what I landed on. When I woke up, Bilbo was trying to keep Gollum from eating me, and I was laying on solid rock. And I'm pretty sure that I would have died if I had landed on that. Also, I vote you get in the river first." She eyed the slowly moving water with trepidation. "Judging by the hollers from our friends over there, it's a bit chilly."

Celia rolled her eyes, but filed away the mention of Gollum to ask about later. "Fine. But I'm just going to jump in, get the worst of it over with. There's no real current to speak of over here, so I don't think we need to worry about being sucked away by a rip-tide or anything."

Running forward, she waited until her feet hit the water before jumping forward and landing in the chest-deep water, immediately flinching away with a high-pitched shriek and a shrill, "OHMYGOSH THIS IS SO COLD!" followed by a chorus of laughter from her sister and the males the next group over.

"Aww, is the poor baby getting hypothermia from the cold waters?" her sister cooed, slowly easing her way into the water and visibly restraining herself from jumping back out at the freezing sensation. "Let's wash quickly! I don't think this temperature will be good for anyone!"

Celia nodded, rubbing her arms briskly in an attempt to warm them before bracing herself and ducking underwater to douse her head, surfacing as quickly as possible and gasping at the feeling. Scrubbing the soap into her hair, she rinsed it out as quickly as possible before moving onto her body, while her sister did the same, though she made sure to keep her head and bandages as dry as possible.

Once they were as clean as they could get, they hurried out of the water and grabbed the towels they had set out, rubbing themselves dry and trying to get warm, before switching to clean clothes and laying the old ones out to dry. Celia grabbed her sister's arm before she could stand up, and told her to stay there.

"Is there anywhere that hurts? I know your head is, obviously, but what about anywhere else?"

Elena thought about it for a minute then shook her head. "I don't think so. I think the blanket protected my stomach and lower back from the worst of it. I'm definitely bruised, but there's not really anything we can do about that. It's mainly my head."

Celia nodded, carefully unwrapping the bandages from her head, and parting the hair at the back of her head, apologizing when Elena winced. Grabbing a short section of clean bandage, she carefully wet it with clean water from her water skin, and began to gently clean her wound, being careful not to open it up again. It looked like a long cut across the base of her skull, but miraculously not deep enough to require stitches.

"I think Óin will have a poultice or something we can put on this to help prevent infection," she told her sister. "Hang on." Standing up, she called over to the other group. "Hey, Gandalf. Is it all right if we come over now? I want Óin to take a look at Elena's head."

There was a pause, before the wizard's voice came trailing back, humor lacing his voice. "I do believe it is all right, Celia. They are all decent enough, now."

"'Kay, we're coming over." Turning back to her sister and handing her the cold cloth, she instructed her, "Keep holding that to your head." Picking up all their stuff, Celia and Elena rejoined the group, where all the rest of them were waiting in varying stages of dryness.

Bilbo, Thorin, and Fíli were sitting bare-chested by a fire that Glóin was tending, and Kíli was mixing some sort of paste for Óin in a bowl. The healer himself was currently wrapping Bilbo's ribs with a tight bandage, and instructing him to keep taking deep breaths.

Fíli was holding his left arm against his chest with his uninjured hand, and from the looks of it, there was bruising along his shoulder, and possibly a sprain. Thorin had cuts from the warg's jaws on his chest, but they were mostly healed by this point, and he had bruises in various colors decorating his ribcage, along with a very stubborn look on his face. And judging from the argument they had overheard earlier, he had most likely insisted Óin treat the others first.

"Ah, Celia, thank goodness you're here. Our two royal patients are making themselves royal pains, and refused to let me treat them until I took care of the other injuries first. I agreed, because Bilbo was obviously hiding the fact that he was having trouble breathing." Óin paused to glare at the hobbit. "But Thorin is favoring his ribs as well, and his royal princeling may be harboring a sprained shoulder. Is Elena in need of urgent treatment?"

"No," Celia shook her head. "I've cleaned it as best as I could, and I don't think it needs stitches. But if you're making a poultice to help prevent infection, she could definitely use one before I wrap it. Do you want me to work on one of your..." she hesitated, fighting a smile and clearly choosing not to repeat Óin's specific description. "Patients?"

"Yes, please," Óin nodded, glaring at Thorin, who glared right back. "Thorin is in need of having his ribs wrapped as well, and once the poultice is done, it will need to be applied to his cuts also." The healer muttered some uncomplimentary adjectives about his royal leader before telling her to ignore Thorin's protests.

Celia nodded, grabbing a roll of bandages and walking towards her patient. "Master Thorin? Are you all right with me treating you?" Her tone was clinical; calm and professional. "Because if that is your objection, I need you to be honest with me now."

Thorin frowned up at her. "I have no objection to you treating me on the basis of your being a female, if that is what you are implying. I have spoken to Óin, and he speaks highly of the skills you have both shown and learned while with him. But Elena and my nephew are both injured as well, Elena perhaps severely. You should treat them first. I do not need to be treated right now. I can wait."

Celia stiffened, glaring down at the dwarf king, who stared back up at her in mild surprise. "Master Thorin, I have personally checked over my sister, and ensured that she can wait. Fíli, while injured, has only a shoulder injury that poses no threats to his life. You, on the other hand, essentially died today, before being brought back by the magic of a wizard, who himself said that you would still need to be treated. And judging from the way you are holding yourself, and your strained breathing, you're finding it difficult to breath as well, which is no surprise considering you were nearly eaten by a warg today!"

Her voice, while still staying respectful, now held a steely bite to it that made her sister, who was all too familiar with that tone, sit up straighter. "And right now, that means that you are a higher priority for treatment!" She leaned in slightly and lowered her voice, losing some of the "Doctor voice" it had previously possessed. "And besides. The sooner you let me treat you, the sooner I can get around to treating the others. So please, let me treat you." She paused and belatedly added a slightly apologetic, "Sir."

She took a deep breath after her diatribe and waited hesitantly for a response, knowing that she had been bolder with the temperamental dwarf king than she ever had been. The entire group was listening by that point, waiting for Thorin's answer. And they were all surprised when he responded, quiet and respectful.

"Thorin."

"Sorry?" Celia wasn't sure she had heard correctly.

"Call me Thorin." The words were slow to come, but they were clear and purposeful. "You and your family have all earned the right to call me by my name today. You have sacrificed much for a quest that was not yours, and continued to offer your best. I am grateful for what you have done. And so I humbly ask you to call me by my name, and extend the same request to the rest of your family."

He sensed the stunned silence from the rest of the Company and looked away from Celia to see them all staring at him with mouths agape, although a few of them, like Balin and Gandalf, were hiding smiles in their beards. He glared at them, daring them to comment with his fierce gaze, before letting it drop, and a rare smile tug at his lips.

"What?" he shrugged, then thought better of it too late, wincing as the movement caused pain. He held up his arms and nodded for Celia to start wrapping his ribs. "I know the determination of a healer when I see one. A good leader knows when to make a tactical retreat, and that some battles you just can't win. And a battle with any healer worth their salt is a battle you'll never win."

* * *

 **A/N: So, this took longer to write than I expected... :/ Here's the fluff I've been promising for the last four chapters! (I know, I know, it took me long enough!) I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. and may you all have a Happy New Year as well! :)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, MaggYme, Illogical Human, ColdOnePaul, guest, thewolf74, RedBear5, and E for reviewing!**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal: Well, that was certainly an awesome review! And that's okay... I think we all talk to fictional characters from time to time. It's only when it becomes a habit that we might want to worry... And Thrain's bead... yeah. It was really sad, but I wanted to, I don't know... make Bilbo look better? Add the chance for more angst and fluff? Some other random reason? All three? Probably. And yeah... that was kind of stupid... who thinks Gollum is worse than a dragon?! Thanks for your review! It was awesome! :)_**

 ** _MaggYme: Yeah, Dwarves have hard heads in more than one sense ;) Hope you like this chapter! I had a wonderful Christmas, and it was made all the better by getting all these awesome reviews! Thanks for your wonderful comments. :)_**

 ** _Illogical Human: I don't think there were really any feels in this chapter... I decided that Celia and Fíli needed a break, so I gave you all a fair bit of fluff. (And even some hints at Celia/Kíli. ;) Hope you liked! :)_**

 ** _ColdOnePaul: Well, I kind of plan for that one to be up in the air for the moment... Maybe we'll never know why it happened... ;) Hope you like this chapter!_**

 ** _Guest: Yep. It wasn't super fluffy at first, but I like to think that it got better towards the end, with all the banter._**

 ** _thewolf74: Unfortunately, Celia and Elena just slapped themselves. Looking back, I can see how that's a misleading sentence, but I've been having troubles uploading this chapter, so I'm just hoping that the chapter works, and I plan on doing some editing later. Hope you liked this chapter! :)_**

 ** _RedBear5: Awww, thank you! It's always nice to know that new people are finding my work and enjoying it! Your review was a present all of its own! Hope you like this new chapter! :)_**

 ** _E: Yeah, Bilbo and Thorin's reconciliation and beginning of real friendship on the Carrock was always one of my favorite scenes. And Elena's little bout with self doubt... that probably won't be coming up too much. It's something she dealt with, and was able to grow a bit because of it. And poor Thorin... He goes through so much in this story... Thanks for your awesome review! I hope you like all the fluff in this chapter. :)_**

 **Thank you all for reading, And I hope you all enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or LOTR, but Elena and Celia are all mine.**


	23. Chapter 23 - A Bear of A Problem

~~ Elena ~~

Elena waited tensely with the rest of the Company for Bilbo to come back with his scouting report, hidden behind a pile of rocks with the light of day already starting to fade. It had been three days since all the drama had occurred on the Carrock, and they had been traveling for the last two, Gandalf having deemed them far enough away from Azog's pack that they could take at least a day to recuperate. He had also vaguely hinted that there may be a place where they could rest further down the path

While Elena was fairly sure that he was referring to Beorn's house, she had seen no sign that they were approaching the skin-changer's lands, and so had no idea how long it would be before they could relax again. And in addition to that, while everyone in the Company was fit to travel, not everyone was wholly healthy; thus they had been forced to travel at a slightly less speedy pace than they would have preferred.

But Bilbo and Thorin both had injured ribs that, while not broken, were still painful when jostled too much. Fíli's shoulder had turned out to be slightly strained from his exertion on the bridge; nothing too severe, but enough that he had to keep it in a sling for the next week or so if at all possible.

And Elena still suffered from headaches that she tried to play off and ignore until either Óin or Celia hunted her down and either put a new paste on her head, or forced her to drink a foul-tasting tea that they kept ready in a flask.

Still, it helped with the pain, so she supposed she couldn't complain too much. Especially considering how overprotective of her that Fíli and her sister were now being. Celia constantly made excuses to brush up against her in some way, as if to prove she was still physically there, and practically fell asleep on her sister when they slept at night.

Fíli placed himself on the other side of her so that one of them would know if she got up at night, and just tended to hover during the day. Kíli, while still careful of her wound, and protective of the two of them general, seemed to find their mother-henning hilarious, and would only laugh when she sent him pleading looks.

If it had been different circumstances, she might have found it a bit amusing, and probably fairly annoying. As it was, however, she couldn't help but feel like it was a little bit her fault that they were feeling this way.

So she hugged back when Celia's arms tightened around her, accepted her treatments without too much complaining - she still protested the tea every time they tried to get her to drink it - and tried to distract Fíli from his thoughts whenever it became apparent that he was becoming lost in unpleasant memories.

Still, she couldn't deny that she was relieved when they began to ease off ever so slightly, although Bilbo was still being mother-henned by several of the dwarves who had all seemed to take him under their wing for completely different reasons.

Bofur, because he had grown to like the hobbit, and counted him as a close friend even before he had stood up to an orc three times his size, and had only grown to like him more after the incident.

Nori, as a fellow thief and prankster, had started to like the hobbit for his spunk and quick wits even back in the Shire when he stood up to Thorin, but had waited until he knew he could trust the hobbit before starting to open up.

And Dori? Well, Dori had just wanted to protect a fellow tea-drinker with actual manners from "Nori's bad influence," although considering that Nori wasn't really a bad character, just someone with itchy fingers who worked for the king, perhaps he just wanted someone else to fuss over since Nori wouldn't let him.

Altogether, the events of the Misty Mountains, while incredibly nerve wracking, and horrible, and somewhat traumatizing - considering the way Gollum now figured in her dreams, and how much Fíli hovered - also brought the Company together, making them more like a well-knit band of brothers (and two sisters) as opposed to the fairly friendly, but reserved, group of separate families it had been when they'd started. She and her sister were now even closer friends with the two princes, and Bilbo had been fully accepted into the Company, even starting to become friends with the slightly-less-hostile Thorin.

Of course, if she was being really honest while on the topic of feelings, she was fairly certain that she at least found the eldest Durin prince to be more on her thoughts than others. Not that it was a big deal, or anything, she just found him mildly attractive. And his constant attention to her - even if it was just so that she didn't do anything stupid again - didn't hurt either.

She shook her head, trying to banish such thoughts. Fíli was just being the nice person he was. And he was a prince - and not just any prince, but the heir to the throne of Erebor; the largest dwarf kingdom in Middle Earth. Or at least, when it was actually in dwarf possession, it had been.

So she ignored her feelings; accepting them, but figuring that they'd disappear soon enough without attention, like most crushes.

A slight rustle drew her back out of her thoughts, as she looked to the front of the group. Bilbo had returned, slightly out of breath, and was ready to give his report.

"How close is the pack?" Dwalin demanded immediately. They'd heard the faint echoes of a howl earlier that day, and had immediately picked up their pace, although Bilbo and Thorin had had to pay the price; Fíli's arm being secure in its sling, and the tea being enough to kill the worst of the pain for Elena.

"Too close," Bilbo panted. "A couple of leagues and no more, but that is not the worst of it."

"Have the wargs picked up our scent?" Dwalin frowned, gripping his axes a little tighter.

Bilbo shook his head, resting a hand on his most likely aching ribs. "Not yet, but they will. We have another problem."

"Did they see you? They saw you!" Gandalf accused, not waiting for an answer.

"No, that's not it," Bilbo denied, starting to look a bit annoyed that none of them would let him explain.

Gandalf straightened and smiled in relief, turning to the rest of the dwarves. "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material," he reminded them proudly, the dwarves mumbling and chuckling in agreement.

Bilbo pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Will you - will you just listen to me?" he huffed, drawing their attention back to him. "I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

Elena glanced over at her sister, who met her gaze and mouthed the word, " _Beorn_." Elena nodded, idly chewing on her thumbnail as she listened to Gandalf interrogate their adopted uncle.

"What form did it take? Was it like a bear?"

"Ye..." Bilbo started to respond immediately, then paused and stared at Gandalf in confusion and curiosity. "Y-yes. But bigger, much bigger."

Bofur frowned, coming to the same conclusion as the rest of them. "You knew about this beast?" he questioned the wizard. When Gandalf didn't answer, only walking a few steps away to think, he turned back to the others in concern. "I say we double back."

Thorin shook his head immediately. "And be run down by a pack of orcs?" he proposed, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we can't stay here," Dwalin interjected gruffly. "We'll be caught by the orcs as sure as if we'd doubled back."

"But if that big bear is waiting for us if we go forward, then what can we do?" Bofur pointed out.

Thorin hesitated, trying to come up with an plan, but was interrupted by Gandalf, who seemed to have come to a decision and rejoined the group, a cautious look on his face. "There is a house, not far from here, where we might take refuge," he suggested quietly.

"Whose house?" Thorin asked warily. "Are they friend or foe?"

Gandalf sighed, clutching his staff a little tighter. "Neither. He will help us," he paused, weighing the weight of his next words. "Or, he will kill us."

The Company all looked at each other in dismay, making sure their weapons were within easy reach.

"What choice do we have?" Thorin asked bitterly, not expecting an answer.

The roar of an enraged bear split the night behind them, making them all jump.

"None," Gandalf answered anyways. "Now run, all of you, if you value your lives!" Lifting his staff off the ground, the wizard practically flew across the rocky ground.

The Company stood there in shock for a minute before taking off after him, running as fast as they could in an effort to outpace the creature behind them who was capable of producing such a massive roar. They ran without ceasing across plains, and through shallow streams that left their feet weary and cold, but still they pressed on, ever urged forwards by Gandalf, or their kin, or the occasional howl behind them.

At one point they reached a forest, but continued to run, darting between the trees as the sound of their hunters - both bear and warg - grew increasingly louder, and thus closer, behind them. A howl picked up behind them, but came to an abrupt halt as an ear-splitting roar echoed through the trees, sounding alarmingly close.

The sun had almost fully set by now, but there was still just enough light to keep them from tripping over their feet as they ran. Elena felt as though her head was pounding in time with her heart, but kept running, knowing that Bilbo and Thorin were likely going through much worse.

They had all stopped when they heard the blood-chilling sound, but now Gandalf urged them to even greater speed, calling on their reserves to keep them running as their hunters grew ever closer. "This way! Quickly!" he called, veering to the left and leading the way out of the forest and onto a plain. There, just a bit further on, was a house, surrounded by a hedge. "To the house!" Gandalf shouted. "Run!"

Everyone seemed to find a final burst of energy as they charged towards the house and through the hedge. Bombur seemed to find a hidden talent and, despite his weight, managed to outrun his astonished friends and thus reached the massive door that barred their entry to safety first.

And, to keep with the rest of their luck so far, it was, of course, locked. Bombur threw himself fruitlessly against the door, trying to force it open by sheer will. The rest of the Company joined them, trying to open the door as a massive, incredibly angry-looking bear broke out from the edge of the forest and began to lope towards them.

"Open the door!" Gandalf shouted from behind them.

While technically Elena knew that they were supposed to make it in time, it was one thing to watch them run on a television screen from the safety of your home, where you could pause it at any time.

It was a wholly different thing to see your little sister cowering behind Kíli as an enraged carnivore that seemed bent on killing them charged towards them with jaws agape. So, she couldn't help but push against the door with the others, despite knowing that it would do nothing.

"Quickly!" Thorin urged them, glancing backwards at the bear.

When their efforts made no visible difference, the dwarf king pushed his way through the teeming mass and managed to raise the exterior bolt, opening the door. They all bolted inside, Elena and Celia being shoved to the back next to Ori in the process, and tried to slam the door before the bear could get in; but they were too late.

A snarling mouth filled with razor sharp teeth had shoved its way between the door and the frame, keeping them from shutting it completely. The bear roared as it strained to push the door open, the dwarves yelling in return and striving to push it shut.

Bilbo pulled out his sword and pointed it shakily at the beast, forcing his expression to not give way to fear as the massive creature snarled in his face. Meanwhile, in the back where they were kept firmly out of the way thanks to the overprotective instincts of almost everyone in the group, Celia pulled her bow off of her shoulder.

She held it at the ready as she stood by her twin, although she didn't fire, knowing that technically, they were the ones invading his home. Besides, the battle was mostly won by now.

Not to mention that her hands were shaking so hard she would probably end up shooting one of the Company before she could hit the bear.

"Come on, lads!" Dwalin shouted, bracing his shoulder against the door as he strained again to close it. With a final heave, the dwarves managed to push the bear out, shut the door, and drop the bolt across it as they all let out a simultaneous sigh of weary relief.

"What is that?" Ori wondered curiously, peering through a small crack in the door to see the bear back away slightly, growling in discontent.

There was a pause before Gandalf answered. "That... is our host," he explained slowly, meeting their bewildered gazes as they turned to him with mild amusement. "His name is Beorn, and he's a skin-changer."

Elena hid a tired snicker as she saw the group's healer remove his hearing trumpet from his ear and check it over to make sure it was working correctly.

"Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man," the wizard continued. "The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."

"Of freaking course not," Celia huffed, looking cross. "Why would he be? Why would anyone be? It's not like we're people who deserve a chance to prove ourselves before being judged, or anything. We're so friendly, and open, and loving that everyone should love us." Her voice was quiet as she muttered, but Elena still saw Fíli's lips twitching; and Kíli couldn't help a snort, though he immediately tried to play it off as a cough.

"He's leaving!" Ori exclaimed suddenly, still peeking out the door, only to let out a squawk as Dori jerked him away from the door and stood in front of him protectively.

"Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it! It's obvious he's under some dark spell," the older brother cautioned, Ori merely rolling his eyes fondly at Dori's dramatics.

"Don't be a fool!" Gandalf scolded the older dwarf immediately. "He's under no enchantment but his own." He sighed. "All right now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight."

The dwarves slowly began spreading through the house filled with oversized furniture, mumbling between themselves. However Elena, her twin, and the two princes were still close enough to hear the wizard's mumbled, "I hope," just as they rounded an open doorway into what looked like a setting room, but was also filled with clean hay scattered around on the floor.

They picked a spot to place their packs by the back wall, and watched quietly as Glóin lit a small fire in the fireplace, before laying down his own bedding just off to the side from it, and falling asleep almost immediately. Bombur and Bofur wandered in a few minutes later, quickly joining the redhead in slumber, everyone exhausted after the adrenaline rush they had all experienced.

However when Óin marched in three minutes after that, his step was determined, and the look in his eye brooked no argument as he marched up to the group. "All right, Elena. Let me see your head before you go to sleep," the old healer instructed.

Elena grumbled a bit, wanting to lay down and just block out the world after the harrowing day they had had, but gave in, knowing the stubborn dwarf would win in an argument.

Óin carefully unwrapped the bandages that she still had to keep wrapped around her head and examined her healing wound before grunting in approval. "Good. I was worried that all the running today might have disrupted the healing process, but it looks like there's been no fresh bleeding."

He placed paste onto a fresh bandage before re-wrapping her head, and handing her a now familiar flask. "Don't think I didn't see you grimacing in pain," he warned her. "Drink it up. It'll help prevent infection anyways."

She swallowed the contents with a grimace, wishing for some good old-fashioned tooth paste to help get rid of the taste, instead of the baking soda concoction they had used in the Shire and on the quest. Once he was satisfied she had drunk it all, Óin turned his attention to the golden-haired prince, taking off his coat before gently removing the sling that protected his left arm beneath.

Óin carefully squeezed the arm, checking for any unusual tenderness, before ordering the prince to strip off his tunic so he could wrap his arm again. Fíli turned bright red and sputtered, but reluctantly agreed, Celia and Elena both hiding their snickers as they turned away and closed their eyes in an effort to not humiliate their friend any further.

Kíli, however, was not so cautious of his brother's ego, and only curbed his laughter to avoid waking up the other dwarves in the room. When it was deemed "safe" for the girls to look again, Fíli was still red, but was now in his tunic once more, and Óin was in the middle of reattaching his sling.

The healer patted him on his uninjured arm as he left. "Celia's a healer, lad, and her calling back on the other world was to help those horrifically injured. I doubt there's much she hasn't seen by now, and Elena's been traveling with the lot of us for a good few months now. I doubt either of them will be much phased by a bare chest, even one as muscled as yours. Not to mention they both saw it just a few days ago."

He shot a wink at Elena, whose blush now matched Fíli's red even as she joined in laughter with her sister and Kíli. "Make sure you keep your forehead clean," he added to Celia, eyeing the healing scar along her forehead. "It's not a bad wound, as they go, but you don't want an infection."

Celia nodded, and the crotchety old dwarf left it at that, leaving to "check on your pigheaded uncle and his ribs," adding as an aside to the girls that their uncle was much easier to deal with than Thorin.

Elena shrugged. "Probably cause he's had to live with Celia for two years, and knows better than to ignore a healer."

Óin shook his head and shot the brunette a smirk. "No, lassie. I've been their healer ever since I became a healer. Thorin's just a stubborn fool. But don't you worry. I've not been their healer for this many years without learning a few tricks. Now, I suggest you get some rest. We all need it after a day like this."

Kíli raised an eyebrow at the others as they all began to lay out their bedding. "So, ignoring everything else, like the fact that I, supposedly the most reckless one out of all of us am the only one uninjured, what did you think of what Gandalf said? Because I, for one, thought it was highly encouraging that he couldn't be assured of our safety. There's nothing like hearing an ancient wizard doesn't know if you'll survive the night or not."

Celia shrugged, pulling her hair out of the high ponytail it had been in and beginning to brush through it, careful to not undo her family braid that Elena had redone a few days prior. "Really?" she said carelessly. "I've always found that it makes life more exciting when you jump at every noise for an hour because you think it's a monster before you realize that it's just your snoring friends." She smirked at the dark-haired prince. "But then, you probably wouldn't know that, as you were most likely sheltered as royalty, weren't you? You're probably not used to roughing it."

Kíli scoffed and threw a spare tunic at her, grinning in triumph when it smacked her in the face and made her sputter. "Shouldn't we be asking you two 'delicate flowers' that?" he retorted with a grin. "After all, to hear you tell it, you could heat or cool down an entire room with just the push of a button, and travel great distances in a matter of minutes."

He eyed the two of them teasingly. "Perhaps you're the ones who should be worried about roughing it. We, on the other hand, have spent most of our lives training, and living in the wild as part of that training."

Elena snorted, spreading her blanket over some of the clean hay on the floor to giver her more padding, and laid down, pulling her other blanket on top, enjoying the heat from the fire slowly heating the room. "Puh-lease, if I can survive a trip down a mountain with a cannibalistic monster and an overprotective uncle with barely a crack in my noggin, I think I can survive a night inside a locked house, with a fire going, surrounded by even more overprotective idiots who would let themselves be eaten first before letting anything dangerous near us."

She smiled when she said the insult to let them know she was just teasing, but still raised an eyebrow at the way they had arranged their bedding. Celia and Elena were closest to the far wall, and Kíli and Fíli were next to them, and closer to the door, so they would be ready if any enemy were to come through.

"Well, at least we know she's really a dwarf," Fíli commented, padding his own blanket before laying down next to Elena. "I mean, I know, we shouldn't have doubted, considering she had all the stubbornness of one, but this should take care of any lasting doubts. Now we know for sure that she's definitely got the thick skull of one."

"I can attest to that," Celia added dryly, having rolled up Kíli's tunic and shoved it into her pack to make a softer pillow as she curled up next to Elena, head facing her sister's back. "We've had a few head-on collisions as children, and I've always been the one to come out with bruises. And I think the only reason you might have doubted either of us being a dwarf before was just because we didn't smell like one - and we still don't, might I add."

"You just got bruises cause you were 'delicate,'" Elena reminded her with a soft laugh, lowering her voice in deference to the sleeping dwarves around them.

Celia snorted but made no other response, closing her eyes and trying to relax after the harrowing past few hours, welcoming the steady sound of her sister's breathing as she, too, began to fall asleep. There was quiet for a few minutes, save for rustling as someone rearranged themselves.

Then Kíli spoke up. "Celia? Do you still have my tunic? Or did you give it back and I just blanked on it completely?"

"Do you mean the one you threw at my face?" Elena's twin answered loftily.

There was some muffled snickering. "Uh... maybe?"

"I've appropriated it," Celia informed him smugly. "It is now serving a much more noble purpose cushioning my head in my pack. You can have it back when I no longer need it."

"Oh. Well, then. You're right. I definitely don't want it back, then." Kíli's voice was as dry as the desert. "Wouldn't want to deprive the delicate flower of sleep because her head wasn't cushioned properly. Forget the fact that she's been sleeping _fine_ without it for the rest of the trip before this."

Fíli appeared to have no sympathy for his brother, if his muffled snickers were any indication.

"Well, how about you don't deprive the rest of us of sleep? We're delicate flowers too, you know." Dwalin's voice was even dryer than Kíli's.

They apologized quickly with muffled giggles, and soon dropped off to sleep, Elena and Celia ending up huddled together during the night when their dreams briefly turned dark.

Kíli, on the other hand, woke up to a face full of tunic.

* * *

 **A/N: Guys. Guys. Guys. I have a major test tomorrow night. If I pass it, I become a fully registered EMT which has been a goal of mine for most of my life. I am... excited and nervous. Hope I do well! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year (Happy 2018, guys!)!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, thewolf74, PugLife4Ever, and E for reviewing! (Seriously, thank you! I love hearing from you all, and your response has been phenomenal!)**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal: Meh, it might have been the wrong brother, but I'm sure things will correct themselves, given enough time. And maybe a scheming family member or too. Not saying which one, though. ;) Not really a whole lot of Beorn this chapter... this chapter has been un"bear"ably difficult and time-consuming._**

 ** _thewolf74: Yep! The doctor's glare is like a mom glare, in my opinion - it means you sit down, shut up, and let them treat you, lol. Thanks for your review, and I hope you enjoyed! :)_**

 ** _PugLife4Ever: We're getting there! Haha, just because she accidentally confessed *I mean, said something that meant nothing* doesn't mean that she's willing to admit anything else. Hope you like this chapter! :)_**

 ** _E: Oh no! I hope you feel better quickly! There's a bit more bantering this chapter, a bit more running for their lives. Same old, same old. :) Thanks for your reviews! They're always encouraging, and I love hearing from everyone! Hope you get better soon, and that you liked this chapter! :)_**

 **Script for the Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug comes from note/328294381/**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: It's a new year, but I still don't own...**


	24. Chapter 24 - A Tangled Tale

~~ Celia ~~

Celia woke up early the next morning before the rest of her friends, and carefully played hopscotch around the sleeping bodies to avoid waking them up. Once she was far enough away that she could move about with some noise, she pulled her brush through her hair before braiding it back into a french braid, grateful for the seeming ability of dwarf hair to go for multiple days without washing before becoming greasy.

Now ready to go, she joined her uncle, Thorin, and Gandalf, who were all standing by the front door, conversing in low whispers.

"Ah, Lady Celia, I am glad to see you are up," the wizard said when he saw her. "Perhaps you can aid us in our attempt to decide our next steps with your... knowledge."

She couldn't help the wince at the fact being so blatantly spoken, considering they were trying to keep it a secret, but nodded in agreement. "What're you trying to decide?" she asked curiously.

Thorin sighed. "Whether or not we should speak to the skin-changer who owns this house, or simply try and slip away before we can be stopped. Gandalf believes that we should seek his aid in reaching the forest. Bilbo and I are... less convinced, as we have heard multiple times that both forms are swift to anger, and are not overly fond of dwarves."

Gandalf turned to her, bright eyes watching her with interest. "What do you think, Lady Celia? Is there any information you believe we should know before attempting either course?"

Celia chewed on her bottom lip for a moment as she thought about the best way to present the information to them so that they could make an informed choice. Unfortunately, there really was only one option that was open to them, and it wasn't exactly the most favorable.

"Well, I guess I can tell you a little bit," she said slowly. "I can't tell you everything that's supposed to happen, of course. But I can say that we're on Beorn's lands. He would most likely know what we did and where we are either way. But he would probably have a slightly better view of us, and might be more willing to help if we went up to him about it. Gandalf's right," she added, glancing up at the wizard. "We probably won't be able to reach the forest without his help. If anything, we might have more problems if he spots us in his bear form again, and sees us as a threat."

Thorin narrowed his eyes and glared at the ground as he mulled over the new information. Gandalf seemed lost in thought as well as he leaned on his staff, and Bilbo seemed content to sit and wait for the other two to decide. At last, Thorin looked up and nodded decisively.

"Very well. It seems that the safest course would be to present ourselves to Master Beorn and seek his aid. I will tell the others once we are all awake." He glanced at Bilbo and Gandalf. "I trust you are not opposed to this?" They both shook their heads.

"If Gandalf thinks it's the best option we have, even if it's still not a very good one, and Celia seems to be hinting at it too, then I suppose that that's the one we should take," Bilbo commented. "Might be a bit nerve-wracking, but it is the polite thing to do, after all, to introduce oneself to one's host."

Celia saw Gandalf hide a smile at that, and even Thorin's lips seemed to briefly twitch upwards in what might have been an indication of humor before the dwarf king turned to her.

"Why don't you wake up my nephews," he suggested. "Bilbo has seen Beorn in his man form, so it should be safer to approach, and it is best to do so now, that we may be done with the matter. Most of them should already be awake by this point, but my nephews may be harder to arouse." His eyes twinkled for a moment. "Feel free to use whatever methods you think fit to awaken them."

Celia straightened her body and snapped off a salute, green eyes brimming with the possibilities of mischief. "Yes, sir!" she agreed instantly. "Thank you for the opportunity, sir!" She bit back a snicker as she quickly scampered off to do her appointed task, her mind poring over the various options she had. She thought she heard muted laughter from behind her, and grinned briefly as she darted back into the room they had slept in.

Thorin was right, as most of the others had awakened by this point, and were starting to roll up their bedding.

Which was probably a good thing, as most of them, Dwalin and Nori in particular, were warriors with battle reflexes, and she didn't want to get threatened with a knife - or axe - just because she accidentally startled one of the sleeping dwarves.

She'd seen Fíli and Kíli be startled awake before, and while both of them could be alert in an instant, they didn't have the same immediate instinct to start waving weapons around furiously. And it was the same with Elena. In fact, her sister might be just as hard to wake up as the boys, considering they were actually sleeping under a roof, and not just out in the open, for the first time in days.

So when she saw Dwalin checking on his axes, she told him in hushed whispers what Thorin and Gandalf had planned. He scowled, but nodded in agreement, getting to his feet so that he could join them.

"Best to let the others wake up on their own, lass," he told her. "They might lash out first, then open their eyes in a place like this, where we don't know how safe we are."

She nodded. "Thorin told me to just wake up the boys." She grinned evilly. "Said I could use whatever methods I deemed fit to wake them, too."

Dwalin snorted. "And of course, you plan on using that freedom to the fullest extent, don't you?" When she only snickered and nodded, he let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head in amusement. "Well, can't say that I blame you. Have fun, just don't get me involved. I get enough trouble from those two as it is."

"Cross my heart," Celia promised.

Dwalin gave her an odd look at the phrase, but left the room to talk to Thorin, his brother following a moment later after giving a knowing wink to Celia. Most of the other dwarves had trickled out to get the news by this point as well, leaving Celia and Nori as the only ones awake in the room, while Elena, Fíli, and Kíli slumbered on.

"Are you going to join the others, too?" Celia asked the thief/spymaster curiously.

He shook his head, grinning. "Why would I? Thorin'll have to tell the boys what the plan is, and you've already told me what the gist of it is. And besides. The show's happening in here. Any ideas on what you're going to do? An opportunity like this," he waved at the three still bodies. "Doesn't come along very often. You should take full advantage of it when you can."

Celia chuckled and nodded. "Don't worry. I plan to. But first, just so I can claim that I tried, and have you as a witness..." she crept over to her sleeping friends and leaned over them. "Elena. Fíli, Kíli, wake up. We're going to be leaving soon," she whispered, waiting patiently, then repeated their names at a slightly louder level. When there was no response, she turned triumphantly back to a smirking Nori.

"You heard that, right? I tried to wake them up peacefully, and didn't get any response."

Granted, if they had slept through the bustle of everyone else getting up, they probably wouldn't have woken up at a whisper, but... the point still stands.

She tried, and they didn't wake up, so clearly it was all on their own heads.

Nori nodded easily. "Oh, yeah. Tried real hard, but they just wouldn't wake up. You had no other choice but to resort to desperate measures."

"Glad you see it that way."

Slinging on her quiver and bow just to get them out of the way, she pondered for a moment on the best way to wake them up, then decided to go for the classic response. First, she made sure to gently tug away the blankets from their faces, so that they wouldn't get wet during the prank. Then, pulling out her water flask, as well as her sister's, she made sure they were full, then set them off to the side. Next, she grabbed the tunic she stole - borrowed - from Kíli the night before, and readied the flasks in her hands, taking care not to spill them as she removed the stoppers.

Hefting the tunic in one hand, she chucked it with all her might straight into Kíli's face, and, fighting the urge to laugh as he suddenly shot upright with a gasp, immediately turned and dumped the contents of the flasks on Fíli and Elena's heads - although she made sure to avoid Elena's bandages, and concentrated it on her face - before darting backwards out of the way, as Fíli's immediate response was to shoot up, arms flailing and sputtering, while Elena let out a sharp gasp as her eyes shot open, immediately landing on her cackling sister a short distance away.

"Celia? What the heck?" she demanded as she sat up, swiping at the water dripping off her face. "What was that all about?"

"I'd like to add my inquiry to hers," Fíli added dryly, wiping off his face with his blanket. "I don't recall asking for a wake-up service this morning."

"Yeah..." Kíli eyed the other two, who had dripping hair, then looked down at the tunic which had fallen into his face. "I don't want to complain too much, considering what could have happened, but... is there a reason for this ending up in my face, instead of you just handing it to me like a normal person?"

Celia nodded, forcing her face into a more calm expression, although she was sure there was still a mischievous glee dancing in her eyes. "Oh, yes. Everyone else was already up, but you three seemed content to just sleep the day away, and we needed to get a move on. So Thorin gave me permission to use whatever means necessary to wake you up. And I did try to go the easy way first." She smirked as she was hit with three disbelieving expressions all at once."No, really, I did. Ask Nori, he was here with me." She waved at the red-headed dwarf.

He chuckled and nodded. "She's not lying to ya. Tried to wake up all three of ya, but ya didn't budge. So she was forced to resort to more drastic measures, as granted by the leader of this quest, Thorin Oakenshield."

"Hmph. Forced to resort, as if," her sister grumbled, pulling out a small towel and briskly rubbing her hair. "I'd be willing to bet you just whispered our names, then moved on to the water. And how come you only doused Fíli and me? How come Kíli's not all wet, too?"

"Because I don't love you as much," Celia deadpanned, before breaking out into laughter. "Nah, I just only had two flasks of water. And besides." Her lips curled up into a grin as she turned towards the younger Durin prince. "I thought he would want his tunic back, so I decided to be nice and return it to him. And, again, I was just doing what Thorin told me to do, he personally told me that you two," she waved at the two princes, "could be hard to wake up some times, so I should do whatever I deem necessary to wake you up. And I thought that this would be the best way to get you up the quickest."

"Up? Yes. Happy? Not so much," Elena muttered, grabbing her pack and beginning to reload everything into it. "I'm pretty sure this is actually revenge for something else, and we just don't know it yet. Let's just get ready, and we can work out our own revenge later."

"Fine." Fíli agreed reluctantly, as he and his brother filled their own packs. He wagged a finger threateningly at Celia as he stood up, his damp hair sticking slightly to his face. "There will be revenge for this!"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh-huh. I was merely doing what your uncle, the leader of the whole quest - you know, the one who only let us come along on the condition that we obey him - told me to do. You wouldn't want me to have disobeyed him, would you?"

"What? No -!"

"Exactly," she grinned, slinging her own pack onto her back. "I'm glad you see it my way. And I'd like to point out that I didn't have to be as nice as I was, either. I moved your blankets out of the way, and I didn't use a bucket full of water, either. Just a couple of half-empty flasks. So really, you should be thanking me. I doubt Thorin would have been as considerate. Or Dwalin." She frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe next time I'll just ask Dwalin to wake you up, since you don't seem to want me to do it."

"Aaaand, I think that I would be just fine with you waking me up next time, as opposed to Dwalin," Kíli declared immediately, slinging his arm across her shoulders. "You wouldn't subject me to Dwalin's wake-up calls again, would you? Celia, my friend; my kind, humble, nice, friend?"

"Traitor," Elena grumbled, but there was no real heat in it. Even she was starting to see the humor in the situation, although she wasn't quite ready to admit it yet. "You're just saying that 'cause you didn't get doused."

He shrugged. "Not really. I've had to deal with Dwalin's wake-up calls before." He shuddered. "Let's just say that they're... less than pleasant. Today was a picnic compared to some of the ways he's waken us up."

"He's right," Nori agreed with a chuckle, making them all turn to look at him. "The two princes over there overslept the day we were to start our journey to your uncle's house. Dwalin was in charge of waking them up, and decided to charge on into their room like they were being attacked. Axes waving, and roaring something fierce. And _that_ was one of his more _gentle_ rousings."

He raised his eyebrows at the brothers and waggled them teasingly. "Who knew the heirs to the throne of Erebor could reach such a high pitch?" Then, ignoring their indignant sputterings and denials, he got to his feet with a groan. "Might as well get going. The skin-changer's not going to be liking us any more come noon. Might as well do it now."

"Wait. What do you mean the skin-changer won't be liking us any more if we waited?" Kíli asked curiously, following the spymaster out of the room towards the front door, where the rest of the dwarves had gathered. "Are we supposed to be meeting him or something? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, but he just tried to eat us last night. Why would he like us any more now?"

"Because we might be able to reason with him now that he's in his human form," Gandalf said as they drew closer, his face crinkling with laughter lines as he smiled at them, his blue eyes twinkling with merriment. "I trust you are all wide awake, now?"

"Oh, yes. We're wide awake," Elena confirmed, blowing a damp strand of hair out of her face in frustration. "No more sleeping for us."

"Good. Thank you, Celia." A deep voice made them all turn. Thorin stood in front of them, his face stern, but his own eyes harboring laughter. "Now that we are all ready, we are going to meet Beorn. Gandalf says that we cannot reach the Mirkwood forest without his aid, so we must introduce ourselves to him first. But we must also be careful in how we do so, for we do not wish to anger him."

"You had better wait here," Gandalf told the anxious group. "And when I give you the signal, begin to come after me - but only in pairs, mind you, and wait a few minutes in between! Elena and Celia, you two will go after Bilbo and I, as I believe that you two are perhaps the safest out of all of us. He may not be fond of dwarves, but he is not quick to harm an innocent female. Bombur is fattest, and will do for two, so he had better come last. Mister Baggins, you will come with me. Remember, wait for my signal," he warned, before prying open the door and setting out, the nervous hobbit close behind him.

As soon as the door was shut, the others crowded around the windows to watch the wizard approach the giant, who was cutting firewood up front, only to stop when he became aware of their presence. Everyone watched with bated breath as he slowly put down the large axe he had been holding as he questioned the wizard, looking less than thrilled about the prospect of company.

"Should we tell them to actually wait every five minutes, like in the book, and to not give the whole introduction spiel every time?" Elena whispered, materializing by her twin.

Celia jumped, ignoring her sister's smug look at the response, and thought it over, before shaking her head. "No," she responded in the same low tone of voice. "They would want to know why they're not supposed to do that, or how we know that. And they can't know yet. Probably not until after Lake-town. And besides, if they're following the book, then it will be five minutes before they appear. I remember that much."

Elena's shoulders slumped and she sighed, but nodded reluctantly. "I guess. But, don't forget that in the book, they never stayed in the house, and were never chased by Azog. Azog was already dead. So we might be following the movies completely at this point."

"I guess we'll have to wait and find out," Celia muttered, feeling butterflies practically swarming in her stomach. "I know Gandalf said we'd probably be the safest out of all of us, and I know things technically work out well in the end, but I'm still nervous. I mean, there's a man out there who can turn into a freaking bear!" she whisper-shouted. "And even in his man form he's big enough to practically lift me up with one hand!"

"I know," her sister mumbled. "I'm kind of freaked out too. There's not really a normal reaction for this sort of thing. We didn't exactly have to worry about situations like this back home. Just... be polite, and hope for the best."

"Elena! Celia! Gandalf just gave the signal!" Bofur hissed, startling them both. "We'll be watching from the window, in case anything starts to go wrong, so try to stay calm."

Elena nodded, her fingers clenching into fists, but she tried to keep them from straying to her axes. Best not to approach Beorn with weapons drawn - that would not be good for their whole, 'innocent and in need of help' routine.

Pulling open the door, the two sisters set out, waving goodbye, and hoping their faces weren't as bloodless as they felt. Walking through the gardens, they made their way over to the waiting skin-changer, whose face lightened with surprise as they approached.

"One or three you meant, I see!" he said, his voice deep. "But these aren't hobbits, these are dwarrowdams!" He eyed them keenly. "Nor are they normal dwarrowdams. I smell a strange magic about them. Is this of your doing, wizard?"

"Not at all," Gandalf replied immediately, careful not to upset the giant. "These two young ladies are, to sum up a great tale, randir."

Beorn straightened immediately, looking over the twins carefully, who tried not to show any signs of nervousness. "Randir? There must be a great evil afoot for the Valar to bring another randir - and two of them at that. Well, then." He leaned back and smiled at them, the expression almost at odds with his menacing appearance. "Welcome to my home, children of the Valar. I am Beorn."

"I-I'm Celia, and this is my twin sister, Elena," Celia managed to stammer out, managing a weak smile. "It -it's a pleasure to meet you, Master Beorn."

"Twins?" Beorn's thick eyebrows raised. "You have truly been chosen by the Valar to carry out their will, for you have already received their blessing. It sounds as though you have a most interesting tale, ladies, and perhaps dangerous," he added, gesturing to the bandage still wrapped around Elena's head.

"Indeed," Gandalf interposed smoothly. "And it is connected to the tale of ours that I was just telling you about. You see, they were with Mister Baggins when I and my friends arrived, and agreed to come with us on our travels, having grown attached to him, and he to them. Lady Elena was injured through some unfortunate circumstances, and our friends were much pleased to find her as unhurt as she was."

"Your friends?" Beorn interrupted. "You said these two were with Master Baggins when you arrived with your friends," he said, gesturing at the hobbit, who was listening to the conversation with wide eyes. "But I do not see anyone else here."

"Ah, they must have been a bit slow to come here," Gandalf said, as Thorin and Nori appeared around the corner.

"Thorin Oakenshield at your service," Thorin said, inclining his head respectfully, while Nori introduced himself as well, though with a slightly deeper bow than Thorin's.

"I don't need your services, thank you," said Beorn. "But I expect you need mine. I am not overfond of dwarves, but you have randir in your midst," he explained, glancing at the two girls. "And I will not turn you away for that alone.

He turned his gaze to Thorin. "And if it is true that you are Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, I believe, and that your companion is respectable, and are not up to any mischief in my lands, which is doubtful, considering the presence of two randir, then you are not just on a simple errand." He eyed Thorin thoughtfully. "Which means that you are doing something that is deemed very important by the Valar that you complete. What are you up to?"

"They are on their way to visit the land of their fathers, away east beyond Mirkwood," Gandalf put in before anyone else could say something, and possibly ruin the story he had been weaving. "And it is entirely an accident that we are in your lands at all. We were crossing the High Pass that should have brought us to the road that lies to the south of your country, when we were attacked by the evil goblins - as I was about to tell you."

"Go on telling then," Beorn said, crossing his arms and eyeing the wizard with something approaching humor. "I am interested to hear of this adventure."

"Well, I was unable to be present at the exact time, but a terrible storm and battle between the stone-giants forced these two ladies and Mister Baggins and several of their companions to take shelter in a cave -"

"Do you call two several?" Beorn interrupted.

"Well, no. As a matter of fact, there were more than two," Gandalf admitted.

"Well, where are they?" Beorn demanded. "Killed, eaten, gone home?"

"Well, no. They don't seem to have come when I gave the signal. Shy, I expect. You see, we are very much afraid that we are rather a lot for you to entertain."

"Go on, call for them again," Beorn sighed, although he did not seem very put out. "I am in for a party, it seems, and one or two more will not make much of a difference."

Gandalf nodded, and raised his hand, but Dori and Ori were there almost before he had lowered it again.

"Dori and Ori at you service," the eldest Ri brother began.

"Thank you! When I want your help, I will ask for it. Let's get on with this tale, or it will be supper time before it is ended."

Dori seemed taken aback at the rudeness of the comment, but closed his mouth and stood silently by the others, keeping Ori close.

"As soon as they were all asleep but the guard, I am told, a crack appeared in the bottom of the cave floor, and sent our entire troop tumbling -"

"Troop? The eight of you?" Beorn interrupted again. "What were you - a traveling circus? Or do you always call eight a troop?"

"Oh, no! As a matter of fact, there were more than eight of us - and well, here are two more!" Gandalf exclaimed, right as Balin and Dwalin appeared, bowing. Beorn refused to let them introduce themselves properly, and only let them tell him their names, before they joined the slowly growing group.

"Now go on again," Beorn instructed the wizard once things were settled, although Celia could see a little smirk at the edges of his lips. The skin-changer was amused by the dwarves, if nothing else.

"Where was I? Oh, yes," Gandalf continued. "I was following close behind them, and so I managed to slip in behind them, as I know a trick or two being a wizard, and followed them to the main hall. The Great Goblin was there, with dozens of armed guards. I thought to myself, 'even if they were not completely surrounded, what can a dozen do against so many?'"

"A dozen? That's the first time I've heard ten called a dozen," Beorn pointed out, a hairy eyebrow raised. "Or have you still got some more that are 'shy'?"

"Well, yes, there seems to be a couple more here now - Fíli and Kíli, I believe," Gandalf said, as the two brothers appeared, looking far more reserved and respectful than they had possibly ever been at Rivendell. They started to bow, but Beorn stopped them, directing them towards the group, and watching as they took their places besides Elena and Celia.

"That's enough. The counting finally seems to add up, unless there is still more to your number," Beorn said, peering at Gandalf. When he was met with an awkward cough, he sighed, but gestured for the wizard to continue. "It seems that your number is like your tale - it has yet to stop, but it is interesting enough that I wish to hear more. Go on, Gandalf."

So Gandalf went on with the tale, until he came to the fight in the dark with the death of the Great Goblin - which pleased Beorn a good deal - the discovery of the exit into the bright sunlight, and their horror when they found that two of their members had been mislaid.

"We found ourselves missing both Lady Elena and our hobbit, and were forced to believe them to have perished in the mountains, leaving the fifteen of us to grieve the loss of our friends."

Celia noticed Fíli tense a little at the mention of Elena's supposed death, and step a little closer, his shoulder brushing hers slightly. She hid a smile, but turned her attention back to the tricky tale Gandalf was weaving for them. She could see how Beorn was being drawn in, and how the constant interruptions were only making him desire to hear the story continue even more, and thus not irritating him as they might have if a rowdy crowd of dwarves had all appeared at once.

Really, though, it was quite humorous listening to Beorn correct Gandalf on his faulty math, even as first Óin and Glóin appeared, then, at last, Bífur, Bofur, and Bombur, who was rather indignant about being forced to go last. Eventually Beorn declared Gandalf's math to be correct at last, and asked him to finish his tale.

And, now that everyone was there, he did. He spoke of the fight with Azog and the orcs, the eagles' rescue, the Carrock, and finally, how they were still running from Azog; and by the time he had finished, the sun was high in the sky and beaming down on them.

"A very good tale!" Beorn declared, when all was said and done. "The best I have heard for a while. If all beggars could tell such a good one, they might find me kinder. You may be making it all up, of course, but you deserve a dinner for the story all the same. Let's have something to eat!"

And of course, there were no arguments to be found.

* * *

 **A/N: First off, thank you so much to everyone who wished me luck on my test! I passed, and am now officially an EMT! :D**

 **Also, the scene at the end comes from the book, I thought it was just too much of an awesome, hilarious scene to leave out - I was kind of sad it's only in the extended edition of the movie. Anyways, things will start moving on again in the next chapter or two... Mirkwood will be coming up soon, and I do have something planned for that... should be interesting... (hopefully) :D**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, MissCallaLilly, Lady Silverstar 2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Hehehe... Um... I regret nothing! XD Ask anyone in my family, and they will tell you that I am the person who loves all the annoying puns, lol. Yep. Dwalin is a delicate flower, and needs his beauty sleep. Thanks for reviewing! :D**_

 _ **MissCallaLilly: Thanks for the good luck! :) And I'm glad... hopefully you like this chapter, too! (even if not much happens) :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: (Love your name, btw) Awwww, that's so nice, thank you for saying that! I love hearing from my readers, and when it's something as nice as that... *Sniff* Thank you so much. Your review was awesome, and I'm really glad that you like my story! Hope you like this chapter. :D**_

 _ **E: Yeah, I'm not overly fond of running (or much exertion in general, lol) but I think I would make an exception if there was a bear chasing after me lol. And thanks! I'm always glad to get feedback. And I felt that we needed some fluff after the sadness of the Misty Mountains. Hope you like this chapter, and thanks for reviewing! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, or the awesome tale that Gandalf wove. Just Celia and Elena.**


	25. Chapter 25 - No Going Back

~~ Elena ~~

Elena felt like a child again, her feet swinging freely back and forth as she sat on the bench around Beorn's table. Having been crafted for the skin-changer's height, there was probably a good foot between her own two feet, and the bare floor beneath.

It had been a bit of a struggle to get up to the bench, but almost everyone was seated around the table now, and at least pretending to enjoy the food that was purely vegetarian - although they seemed much happier about the mere presence of food alone, than they had been in Rivendell.

Although, now that she thought about it, that had probably been more due to the presence of elves, than anything else.

Still, she hadn't been able to eat for a while - it had probably been early yesterday morning when they had last actually eaten a meal. Anything else had been snatched in hasty bites while they took a quick reprieve from the running, and they hadn't even really had the chance to eat supper last night or breakfast this morning. So she dug into the bread, cheese, and vegetables with gusto, enjoying the fresh food and break from the running.

"I'm pretty sure that the food never tasted this good back home," her sister mumbled from beside her, buttering another slice of bread.

"That's probably because you've never had to wait this long between meals," Elena reminded her, rolling her eyes. "I've always heard that hunger is the best seasoning."

Her twin shrugged, taking a large bite of her food. "Maybe. But as amazing as this is, I'd still give just about anything to have a pizza again."

Elena groaned, her mouth watering at the memory. "Don't remind me. It's been so long. Add that to the things I miss most about home. Mom, air conditioning, hot running water, and pizza."

"And chocolate," her sister reminded her unhelpfully.

"I said don't remind me," Elena whined, making her sister break down in a fit of giggles.

"What's pizza?" Fíli asked, breaking into their conversation from his spot on the other side of Elena, holding his own slice of bread. He'd already gone through at least four, and probably wasn't going to be stopping any time soon. Elena and Celia both stared at him in open mouthed shock. "What?" he said uncomfortably, when he noticed their stares. "Did I say something wrong?"

"He doesn't know what pizza is," Celia whispered to her sister, deliberately just loud enough to be heard by the two princes.

"That poor boy," Elena agreed in the same tone of voice, neither of them taking their eyes off of Fíli. "He doesn't even know what he's missing. Never realized what he's been deprived of his whole life."

Fíli rolled his eyes. "All right, very funny. You've made your point. Again, what is this pizza that I've been deprived of?"

"And what's chocolate?" Kíli added, his head appearing around his brother's. "Is it food?"

Elena glanced over at her sister, before they both started snickering. "Yes, Kíli. For once, your stomach has led you the right way. Pizza and chocolate are both food."

"Amazing food," Celia broke in. "Delicious, tasty, somewhat bad for you food that everyone eats anyways because it's so good."

"Anyways, chocolate is this sugary treat that's typically derived from milk and cocoa," Elena explained. "And pizza is cheese and this tomato sauce with herbs and seasonings that's baked onto a bread dough rolled flat. And it's really good."

She sighed, her eyes glazed over with memories. "Remember when Mom tried to bake us a pizza, and somehow managed to burn the crust while leaving the center completely raw? But the cheese was melted to perfection." She shook her head with a smile. "I never did understand how she was simultaneously a talented chef and a disaster in the kitchen at the same time."

Celia chuckled. "She always blamed it on the dough. Said it was prepared differently than from when she learned how to make it." She snorted. "As if that explains everything. She could make a meal that you would find at a fancy restaurant, but at the same time, burn the water that she was using to boil the potatoes."

Kíli blinked. "She sounds... talented. If that's the right word."

Elena smiled sadly. "She was very talented. I think she'd love to meet you guys, sometime. She loved to meet new people."

"Was your mother left in your other world, that you speak of her so?" Beorn's deep voice cut in as he reached in to pour milk from an oversized pitcher into Fíli's cup. "I have heard Gandalf's tale, but not yet your own tale, for surely the Valar would not call randir to visit their kin, as your friends are doing." His tone was even, but they all got the feeling that Beorn knew that that was not their real intention. To travel with a wizard - and two randir - was definitely out of the ordinary.

"Yes, she was left behind when we came here," Celia explained, smiling gratefully up at the man when he refilled her milk as well. "And thank you, Master Beorn. You didn't have to do all this for us."

"I did what any would do, were they to be on the side of what is right and good. You were sent by the Valar for a reason, and I will not bring their wrath upon my head by turning you away," he answered dismissively. "But I would not be opposed to hearing your tale, as well as how several of your party came to be injured."

He gestured towards Elena's head, and Fíli's arm, which was still wrapped up in a sling. "And I know your leader, and the hobbit, are injured as well. I can smell it on them." He tilted his head to the side, watching them with interest. "So tell me. How did this happen? Was it from the orcs who hunted you?"

Celia and Elena glanced at each other, before shrugging. They knew Beorn was trustworthy, and rarely spoke to others, so they could probably tell him at least a little bit.

"Bilbo, Fíli and I got injured while we were in the Misty Mountains," Elena explained. "Thorin was attacked by a warg. We're all mostly mended, but I need to keep my head wound clean, and Fíli's not supposed to use his arm too much. That's why it's still in the sling. As for how we got to this world to start with, well... that's a longer story."

"Your kin are still eating," Beorn pointed out, gesturing with the milk pitcher to where the rest of their friends were still taking advantage of the abundant food. "And the orcs that were hunting you will not dare step onto my lands. You have time enough to tell your tale, and I am a ready listener. For all that I prefer the company of my animals to free folk, I am not against hearing new tales."

So, since Elena had finished first - although Fíli and Kíli didn't look like they would be stopping any time soon - she took a deep breath and launched into their tale: how they had been humans back home, had wound up here as dwarves and ended up living with Bilbo until the rest of the dwarves had stopped by, and then they had all discovered who they really were. Beorn listened to the whole tale without interruptions, then nodded once when she had finished.

"Your tale has the ring of truth to it," he said at last. "I do not know why you were sent the way you were, but the Valar do not always work in ways that are clear to see. Do you know why you were chosen?"

Elena glanced at Celia awkwardly. "I guess?" she said uncertainly. "But it's not exactly something that we can really say in the open. At least for right now. It's kind of... big."

Beorn raised a hairy eyebrow and nodded in amused agreement. "I understand. I do not believe the Valar would have chosen two randir, who have lived lives in both worlds, were it not something very important." He rested the milk pitcher on the table. "It was an interesting tale, and I am pleased to have been one of the few to hear it. But now, I believe we must move on to more pressing matters." Never one for courtly manners, he tilted his head slightly in a gesture of farewell and strode off to another room.

Once he was gone, Celia leaned in towards Elena and lowered her voice, whispering softly. "Okay, so I know that we can't tell people everything. But we need to start coming up with something better than that. We all know Beorn doesn't believe that we're just visiting some friends, or whatever. Particularly not with Thorin, Gandalf, and us being here from another world. And what about the Company? They all know something of why we're really here. When are we going to tell them we know what's going to happen?"

Elena shushed her hastily, then glanced around her, trying to make sure that no one had overheard. But it seemed as though no one had been paying attention, all too focused on finishing up their food.

"We can't talk about this here. But you're right," she admitted, her own voice hushed. "We do need to talk about it, particularly before we enter Mirkwood, in case we end up having to deal with Thranduil. And we won't have the chance to talk about it once we're in the woods, either. Let's try and figure it out after lunch, all right? We should have a bit of free time then while they figure out the logistics."

Celia nodded, biting her own lip before trying to cover it up as she finished off her milk.

Beorn came back then, a frown on his face as he stood before Thorin, who didn't look at all intimidated as he stared up at the larger man.

"Tell me, Thorin Oakenshield. Why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

Thorin drew back. "You know of Azog? How?"

Beorn's face was heavy as he looked away. "My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." He looked down at the broken manacles still hanging from his wrists, the Company looking on in somber understanding. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

"There were others like you?" Bilbo asked uncertainly.

"Once, there were many," Beorn answered softly.

"And now?" the hobbit continued hesitantly, looking like he already knew the answer.

Beorn sighed heavily. "Now, there is only one." He straightened slightly, seeming to dispel the heavy atmosphere that had fallen over the room as he turned back to Thorin. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?"

Thorin scowled and looked at him suspiciously, but Gandalf answered before he could say anything that might offend the skin-changer.

"Before Durin's Day falls, yes."

Beorn hummed noncommittally. "You are running out of time."

Gandalf nodded seriously. "Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

Beorn looked at him with a frown. "A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."

"We will take the Elven Road," Gandalf tried to assure him. "That route is still safe."

Still sitting at the table off to the side, Elena met her sister's eyes and shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly. That route was most definitely not very safe, but it was probably the only route actually currently available. She missed Fíli's curious glance in her direction, still focused on the current conversation in front of them.

"Safe?" Beorn scoffed. "The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."

"What do you mean?" Thorin asked suspiciously.

"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive," Beorn stated with certainty.

Elena jumped and let out a small squeak when a small, white mouse ran on the table in front of her. "I'd forgotten that was going to happen," she murmured, tilting her head to the side to watch the small creature that sat in front of her. "You're actually kind of cute," she giggled softly, taking a leftover crumb of bread and pushing it towards the mouse gently.

It seemed to hold no fear of her, and took the crumb, sniffing it curiously before starting to nibble on it. Beside her, Celia hid a small smile of her own, and nudged her own bit of cheese towards the mouse.

"I don't like most dwarves," Beorn said, his deep voice startling Elena. "They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." His giant hand appeared in front of Elena, reaching down and scooping up the mouse protectively, though he glanced down at the sisters with a smile when they peeked up at him. He turned back to Thorin, who had been waiting expectantly with his arms crossed. "But not all dwarves are alike, and I hate orcs far more. What do you need?"

Elena broke out in a relieved grin as Thorin and Gandalf moved forward to discuss supplies and such with the giant man. She slid down from the bench carefully, landing with a grunt on her feet, not noticing the thoughtful look on Fíli's face.

"Come on, Celia. Let's go look at some of the plants outside. I wanna see if I can use some of them for sketching purposes. Is that all right, Master Beorn? If we go look around a bit outside?" She added awkwardly, remembering that they were still technically guests on his lands. He looked around in surprise, before looking down, as if remembering that she were there.

"Of course, Lady Elena. Just remember to stay on my lands. The orcs will not cross my borders, but they will doubtless be waiting beyond them."

"Great!" she grinned. "Thanks!"

Making sure her sketchbook was in her bag, she grabbed her sister's hand and darted outside, heading over to the large garden. For something run by a man who could turn into a bear and lived far from any signs of civilization, the garden was well organized, and tall flowers grew in abundance, brightening the landscape with their bright appearance.

"Ah. That makes sense," Celia said. When Elena looked at her curiously, she nodded her head towards a giant bee hovering around one particularly large sunflower. "I suppose he keeps the flowers to help feed the bees. I was kind of wondering about that, to be honest. He didn't exactly seem like the type of guy to stop and smell the roses."

"Ah. Yes." Elena scrunched up her nose in thought. "Do you think it's safe to go near them? I don't think either of us are allergic to bee stings, but I'd hate to know what it felt like to get stung by one that size. It's practically the size of my face."

"Maybe?" Celia shrugged her shoulders uncertainly. "Beorn probably would have told us if they were a real danger. Maybe just try not to get too close? Your vision is still halfway decent, after all, even though you're so much older than me."

"Oh, ha, ha," her twin retorted dryly. "You know, that joke stopped being funny a long time ago. As in, the Dark Ages. Neither of us remember it, but considering you're the medical expert in the family, tell me. How likely is it that I really was born so much longer before you? Is it even possible for me to be born way before you, considering we're twins?"

"Well, someone's cranky," Celia observed with her eyebrows raised, holding up her hands in surrender. When Elena only raised her own eyebrow at her, she gave in. "Okay, okay, fine. Yes, I probably deserved that for dumping the water on your head this morning. In my defense, I did keep it away from your bandages, and I was doing what Thorin had told me to do, so... you're welcome. And anyways," she continued hastily, seeing Elena scowl at her, "There can't be too great of a distance between births in a multiple-birth situation. Typically it's a matter of hours at the longest, sometimes only minutes."

"Thank you," Elena said dryly. After a minute of silence, where she pulled out her sketchbook and a pencil and began to sketch, she gave in. "I wasn't really that mad about this morning. It could have been a lot worse than it did, and I'm completely dry now. And I have to admit, I probably would have done the same thing in your place. I guess I'm just a little tense this morning. Not quite sure why. Anyways, we need to decide what we can tell people when they find out that we're randir. Like, what about when we end up with Thranduil? Because, book or movie version, we're going to get captured by the elves."

Celia hummed thoughtfully, her eyes staring off in the distance. "I guess the real question is whether or not we're going to be affected by the magic of Mirkwood. I mean, everyone else was, even Bilbo. Actually, we might have to keep an eye on him. Hobbits are creatures of the earth. But... what about the fact that we're from, you know, our world. Will that make us immune? More susceptible? And should we try to stay on the path if we're not, or try and stay with the group?"

"And who's to say that even if we aren't affected when they are, that we won't be later on?" Elena pointed out. "I mean, what if we stayed on the path, and wandered off at a later point in time? That could affect things, too. Like, what if we never get found by the elves, and instead just get captured by," she couldn't repress a shudder, "the spiders."

"Ugh," Celia grimaced. "Don't remind me." She sat up straight all of a sudden. "Hey!"

"Hey, what?"

"That giant spider I saw as a kid, that I swore wanted to eat me, and that you always said was just a figment of my imagination, or that I was exaggerating!"

"And?"

"And?" Celia repeated indignantly. "And how about the fact that there are giant, hideous, killer spiders in Mirkwood, exactly like the one I saw when I was younger!"

Elena looked up from her rough sketch of a large carnation to eye her sister both patiently and skeptically. "Okay, but how likely was it that our parents, along with an entire dwarven caravan, chose to travel through Mirkwood, and were around said forest when they were attacked? And that the elves never came out to help? I mean, they might be reclusive, but they guard their lands." For a moment, Elena thought she had convinced her sister, then she straightened.

"Yeah, but remember what Thranduil said?" Celia wrinkled her nose. "Will say? Said from our point of view, but not yet from his perspective. He said that they will leave other lands to themselves. Or something like that. And he's not exactly fond of dwarves. If something happened outside his lands, he probably wouldn't do anything unless it would directly affect him or his people. And Shelob was never near Mirkwood. She was by," she lowered her voice, "the dark lands. Who's to say that more of her spawn didn't crawl elsewhere?"

"You make it sound like Voldemort," Elena said in amusement. " _The land we do not name_ ," she whispered, her voice wavering and drawn out for added spooky effect. "Hey," she shrugged when she saw her sister's raised eyebrow. "Just because I never read the books doesn't mean that I don't know one of the more famous references from that show."

"Anyways," Celia said, rolling her eyes. "To get back to our original topic, I think we should try and stick with the Company either way. We know they'll get rescued, and that way we won't have to worry about anything changing too much. And if we get exposed to Thranduil, which we probably will, maybe we can try and play it off to get him to let us go earlier? Claim we need the dwarves to fulfill our purpose, or something - which we kind of do, come to think of it."

Elena nodded thoughtfully. "That could work. Let him know that there's more at stake here than just his precious kingdom, and that if the dwarves fail, then, well... to quote a prophecy that I'm sure he's more than familiar with... _'Then all will fail with sadness, and the lake will shine and burn.'_ Or, you know, something like that, considering I'm pretty sure the original prophecy in the book had a happier ending."

"Along with, you know, the rest of Middle Earth," Celia pointed out. "He's not actually a bad person, just a persnickety person who's overprotective of what he cares about, and everything else can go suck it."

"Basically," Elena snickered. "Though I doubt he'd agree with your wording. It'd probably be something more along the lines of something like this." She cleared her throat and straightened her back, before doing her best Thranduil impression. " _Our people come first, Legolas. We must place the safety of our kingdom over the needs of the outside world, that cared not for us in our time of need. Let them tend to them, and we will tend to our own._ "

"Wow." Celia raised her eyes in mock astonishment. "When you put it like that, it almost makes Thranduil sound noble."

"Shh! Don't let Thorin hear you say that," Elena hushed her, a grin appearing on her face. "And now that we've decided to basically keep doing what we've been doing, namely winging it, can I focus on my drawing now?"

"The drawing that you've been working on? The drawing that's nearly complete?" Celia asked, eyebrows raised. "And we still haven't decided whether or not we can tell anyone in the Company that we know what's going to happen."

"Oh. That." Elena scowled and pressed her pencil a little deeper into the paper with her next stroke, then huffed in frustration when it threw off the look she had been going for, and did her best to blend it in. "I don't think we can tell everyone. At least, not right now. It's too soon. We can't exactly warn them about Smaug attacking. I mean, things could very easily go much worse if anything changes when he attacks them inside the mountain."

"Well, obviously I don't think we can tell everyone," Celia retorted. "I mean, how do you think they're gonna take the news that several people that we all care about a lot are going to die essentially pointless deaths if we aren't able to stop it? What's to keep them from blaming us? I don't want our best friends to hate us for something we could've stopped!"

"Who's going to die a pointless death?"

Elena froze, all the blood leaving her face. Because the speaker of said question, was one of the people who was supposed to die said pointless death. Namely, a dark-haired prince, standing next to his fair-haired brother, both of them looking down at the girls with questions on their faces, although Fíli had something warring with the curiosity in his eyes - knowledge? It looked a bit more pained than that, though.

"Um... I don't... uh..." Celia stammered, glancing at her sister for help. Unfortunately for her, Elena was just as lost for words as the two princes looked to them for answers.

"Is that what your purpose is? Someone's going to die, and your job is to stop it?" Fíli guessed. "Or, several people? But how could you know that, let alone how to stop it, unless..." He stopped, his eyes going wide as he essentially saw the confirmation on their faces. "Unless you know what's going to happen," he said in slow realization.

"Uh... DENTIST APPOINTMENT, HAVE TO GO, SORRY, BYE, GUYS," Elena blurted out at top speed all of a sudden, scrambling to her feet and yanking her stunned sister up with her. "TALK TO YOU LATER, BYE."

Not giving them any time to respond and ignoring their startled protests, she tightened her grip on her sister's hand and took off, pulling her around to a small barn behind the house that she had noticed earlier, and darting inside. Spotting a small stack of clean hay in one corner, she headed towards it and sunk down into the soft hay with an unhappy moan, laying down flat and burying her head in the hay next to her sister's lap.

There was silence for a few, blessed moments, before her sister hesitantly spoke up.

"So... dentist appointment? Really?"

Elena huffed, crossing her arms out in front of her and laying her head on them moodily, staring at the back of the wall.

"So, I might have panicked a little."

"A little?"

"... Okay, fine. I panicked a lot. But it's not like you were any help," she protested, rolling over to glare at her sister. "They were figuring things out, and you didn't say anything! What was I supposed to say? We'd literally just finished discussing how we couldn't tell anyone anything!"

"Well, sorry if I was panicking too! But you do know that screaming out an unintelligible - and extremely unbelievable at that - excuse and running away just makes us look more suspect, right?" When Elena only groaned again and buried her head back in her arms, Celia poked her shoulder tentatively. "Elena? You know we're going to have to deal with this at some point, right? And probably before we leave Beorn's. They're not going to just leave it at that."

"I know, I know," Elena muttered into her arms. "Just let me have a few moments to panic quietly in my head before we start trying to figure out damage control."

Her sister stiffened beside her, her hand moving to the back of Elena's shoulder. "Well, you better figure it out, quick. Damages 1 and 2 just entered the building."

Elena tensed, and turned her head slightly, lifting up her arm just enough to peer through the hay obscuring her vision to make out Fíli and Kíli making their way towards them, both clearly worried and more serious than she'd ever seen them, bar their experience on Misty Mountains.

Celia began to rub her hands slowly over Elena's back as the two brothers took a seat at the edge of the pile of hay, although they were considerate enough to leave plenty of space for an emergency exit should either of the girls decide to make a break for it again.

Neither of the brothers said anything as they sat down, only watching in silence as Celia continued her soothing circuit on Elena's back, not looking either of them in the eye as she fiddled with a piece of hay with her free hand.

At last, Fíli broke the silence. "So... does either one of you want to explain what just happened?" There was no trace of humor in his voice. "Because two of our closest friends decided to just take off as soon as they saw us, looking extremely upset and worried about something, and not bothering to tell us anything, only making us more worried. Because right now, neither of us are quite sure what's going on, and we're both very worried about you."

Elena shifted slightly, turning her head to rest on its side so she could see them more clearly, narrowing her eyes at them in suspicion. "So, you just want to know if you're all right? No questions about the previous subject matter?"

Kíli shrugged, shifting so he was slightly more comfortable. "Of course we'd be interested in finding out what was really going on, especially since it seemed to upset you both so much. But you're our friends, first and foremost, so our main concern is how you're really doing right now. Anything else can wait."

"Okay, now that's not fair," Celia protested childishly, pouting at the prince, who blinked in confusion. "You can't be so nice to us like that! Now how am I supposed to feel justified in refusing to tell you anything? Now I feel like I should tell you, just to make it up to you."

Kíli smirked, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Maybe that was the point." When Celia continued to avoid his eyes, he sighed and dropped the act. "All right. So, you don't want to tell us what upset you. Can you at least tell us _why_ you don't want to tell us?"

Celia frowned, looking down at her sister, who buried her head back in her hands. Seeing no help from that quarter, she gave up and mumbled something.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear that," Kíli told her, his voice telling her he expected at least some sort of explanation.

Celia sighed and repeated herself in a slightly louder tone of voice. "We didn't want you to hate us."

There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted far too long for either of the sisters to feel good about. Celia kept her eyes focused on her hands, fiddling nervously with a piece of hay. Then, one of the princes drew breath to speak.

"What makes you think we could ever hate you?"

Elena sat up in shock, dispelling some of the hay as she stared at Fíli.

He met her surprised gaze evenly. "Is it because you know what's going to happen? That someone's supposed to die? Because we already know you know that. And neither of us hate you."

"But, but, how did you find out?" Elena sputtered, her mind still scrambling to think straight.

"It was actually pretty clear, to be honest, once we got on the right track," Fíli admitted. "I heard you say something at the table, about how you had forgotten that something was going to happen. Then there was all that secrecy at Rivendell, the way that Uncle and Gandalf both trusted you so quickly, the way that Uncle would speak to you privately, usually right before something big would happen, like the trolls, or the warg attacking shortly after that. Little things like that."

He paused. "And then there was the conversation outside, where you both had that whole bit where you were trying to decide what to do. That was what kind of clinched it, to be honest. And it made even more sense when I remembered that _randir_ in the past have known what was going to happen, particularly during the last siege against the dark lord."

Elena swallowed hard and looked over at her sister. Fíli and Kíli had figured it out all on their own. What were they supposed to do with this? Where were they supposed to go from here?

Celia shrugged helplessly, then nudged her sister, the message clear: might as well be honest.

Elena sat up a little straighter, then cleared her throat. "All right. Might as well be honest with you. We can't tell you everything, though," she warned them.

Both brothers nodded seriously, an expression that had become far too familiar of late, a strange sight compared to the typical jocular expressions they had both sported earlier on in the quest.

"But I guess it starts a long time ago, back in our world. We were both pretty young, then, and had only been adopted for a short time. But we had just visited a book store, when we found this short little book tucked away in the back. It didn't seem like much at the time. Just an ordinary book, written by a man, with the title of some fairy-tale creature. It was called 'The Hobbit'..."

xXx

When her story had finished - although she left out the biggest bits, such as who was supposed to die, and the battle at the end, and all that, both brothers regarded the sisters with calm, serious expressions as they waited with pounding hearts for the response.

"That explains a lot, actually," Kíli said thoughtfully at last. "And I can understand why you were afraid we might hate you, particularly if you were to fail in your self-set mission." His eyes met the ground as he spoke slowly. "To be completely honest, it actually makes a lot of sense to be mad at you right now for hiding this, to hate you for the things we've gone through, the things we could still go through."

Elena nodded shamefully, wrapping a hand around her other arm for comfort as she avoided looking at either of the brothers. It was what she had expected. She cringed as Fíli spoke next, feeling her heart shatter as she heard the condemning words.

"You know things won't be the same after this. This definitely changes the way I see you. There's no going back from this."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not going to say much this time, so that you guys can properly simmer in that lovely ending right there. Next update should come next Tuesday evening... :)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, PugLife4Ever, and E for reviewing!**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal: Lol, yeah. I had to look it up too, a fact I'm a little embarrassed about. Especially considering I knew what Mithrandir meant, but I still didn't connect the two words for a disgracefully long time. ;) Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this chapter... ;)_**

 ** _PugLife4Ever: Lol, no worries. And thanks! And the only reason I would be hesitant about going to Beorn's house is that I have a boatload of allergies, so I would probably be pretty uncomfortable in the natural world, lol. And fluff... uh... *checks ending awkwardly* Um... hehe, maybe next chapter? There's either going to be angst, and lots of it, or boatloads of fluff. And I already have it all planned out... mwahaha. Thanks for reviewing! :) Hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _E: I'm glad you did - I'm pretty sure Fíli, Kíli, and Elena didn't appreciate the wake-up call very much. And you almost read my mind. I was kind of surprised when I saw your review, considering how similar it was to what I had planned - and this isn't the first time this has happened either. Great minds think alike, perhaps? lol. Wonder what you think of the ending... ;) Conclusion to this particular arc will be next chapter. Thanks for reviewing... I'm kind of interested to see people's response. :D_**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or LOTR, they belong to the JRR Tolkien estate.**


	26. Chapter 26-The Australia of Middle Earth

~~ Celia ~~

Celia looked away, not wanting them to see the pain on her face as she waited for the two brothers to tell them they hated them and never wanted to see them again.

"But you're going to need a lot of help carrying out your purpose if you're both dumb enough to believe that we could ever hate you for trying to save our lives."

Celia whipped her head around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash as she met Kíli's amused gaze.

"Did you really think that we would hate you for keeping this from us?" Fíli asked, looking both slightly hurt and amused at the same time. "Because look at it from our point of view. Our closest friends just told us that they got thrown into another world, that they never believed was real, assumed - without being told, might I add - that their duty was to save the lives of people who, according to everything they knew, were supposed to die - without even having met said people! And they've been trying ever since then to change things for the better."

"Like trying to warn Uncle about the trolls," Kíli interjected. When the two girls looked at him in confusion, he merely shrugged his shoulders. "What? I can pay attention to things too, you know. I saw the way you talked to him right before we found out about the trolls, and again right before we were attacked by the orc hunting party. And he didn't look very surprised to see Azog back by the Misty Mountains, just unhappy. Although, granted, that's kind of his normal look."

"What I think my brother is trying to say," Fíli broke back in, "is that we've both seen you go out of your way to try and keep us from danger as much as you can without being too obvious about it. So, no. We don't hate you. Far from it, actually."

"But, but, we knew all that stuff was going to happen. We knew that Azog was alive, and that there would be the trolls, and the stone giants would have a fight, leading to us getting captured by the goblins - all things that could have killed us," Celia protested.

"And all things that we only hinted at to Thorin, and didn't even warn any of the rest of you. We knew all of this horrible stuff was going to happen - there's still awful things that are going to happen, and we can't tell you, because some of it has to happen, or something even worse will occur. Why doesn't this upset you?"

She honestly didn't know why she was fighting this - she had been feeling sick to her stomach ever since she had realized the possibility that they might no longer be friends after the reveal.

Kíli just shot her a flat look, his tone disbelieving. "So you're telling me that you both knew Elena was going to fall with Bilbo? That you knew all along that she and Bilbo weren't dead, and that your tears were completely faked?"

Celia frowned, feeling affronted. "Of course not! We weren't in the original story, so how could we know what was going to happen to us? Besides, if I had known that they would survive, don't you think that I would have told -"

She faltered, remembering that they were in the middle of a conversation about their failure to do exactly that. "Well, I hope you know that I would have told you, both of you, if I had thought there was a chance for them to survive," she continued in a quieter tone.

"But in the original narrative, Bilbo fell alone, and in a different spot. I thought that because he fell where he did, and Elena with him, that they wouldn't have the elements that enabled Bilbo to survive the first time. Especially when Fíli told me that Elena hit her head on the way down." The piece of straw she had been fiddling with broke in her hands, and she fumbled for a new one. "Us being here has changed some things, and other times..."

She glanced at the two brothers, her eyes pleading for them to understand. "Things have deviated from the norm on their own. There were two possible ways things could happen before, and it seemed to split between the two of them. I've seen things from both routes."

"So, then, you don't know everything what's going to happen," Fíli pointed out.

Elena shook her head. "We know the gist of what's going to happen, and what we think we need to change, or make sure happens, but we don't know everything that's going to happen in between. We can't see the future, we just know what's supposed to happen in the original version." She sighed. "We're not like the elves, with their foresight, or their wisdom on what needs to happen. We're just going by guesswork, here, for the most part."

"Which brings me back to my original point," Fíli said seriously. "You two don't know everything that's going to happen, because some things have changed purely by you being here. Maybe nobody's going to die. Or maybe, like the randir from earlier events, some things, no matter how horrible, have to happen so that a greater good can come from that evil. And you don't actually know that you're here to stop those people from dying. Maybe you're here to make sure that they die, instead."

He shrugged at the sisters' horrified looks. "It's happened in the past. Apparently one of the randir who helped during the fight at the Black Gate millennia ago saved the elvish king Gil-Galad's life, when apparently he was supposed to have been killed. Unfortunately, the act of doing so allowed a band of orcs to sneak past them into the allied camps, and perform a surprise raid, getting information that allowed them to defeat our armies in several difficult battles. It wasn't until Gil-Galad was killed by chance by a stray arrow that his death roused the troops enough to permanently drive back the enemy enough to change the tide of the war to victory in the end."

Celia swallowed hard, then shook her head. "Maybe that's what happened then. But I don't think that that's what's going to happen here. I don't think the Valar would have chosen us if they wanted someone to stay dead. And I think Lord Elrond knows what we're planning on doing, and he probably would have vaguely hinted that we were wrong if it were so. But I'm going to wait and ask Gandalf before making any decisions like stepping back and allowing someone to die, when I can stop it." She scowled at the barn floor.

"Fíli?" Kíli's voice was plaintive. "I think this quest really is doomed if they're that dumb."

"What are -" Celia was cut off as she was swept up into a tight hug, her arms sticking out at awkward angles.

"You well-meaning idiots literally talk about how you're not going to just let anyone die, and you're literally going to fight the way things are supposed to happen, and you expect us to hate you?" Kíli's bemused voice reached her ears through her hair. "How can you listen to yourselves talk for even a few minutes and think that what you're doing is wrong? You're literally trying to save people's lives - which is the definition of a hero, and not the villain, in all our tales. Unless things are vastly different where you're from, and I don't think that that's the case here."

"I think the problem is that neither of them were really listening," Fíli's amused voice said. Elena uttered a halfhearted protest, but he shushed her before he could get very far, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Nope. Our turn to talk now. Both of you were so busy panicking that neither of you saw that we weren't mad. I mean, sure, I wish that you had told us before, but even that's more so that you didn't have to make the entire trip this far bearing this burden almost completely by yourselves than because I would have liked to know what was going on."

Celia, who was still trapped by Kíli's arms, pushed at his chest awkwardly. "Are you going to let me go, anytime soon? I think you've made your point."

"That depends. Are you still bound and determined that we should hate you, and declare we never want to see you again?" he retorted.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. We shouldn't have just assumed that you would be mad, and actually waited for you to explain to us what you were thinking instead of blurting out a really stupid excuse -"

"Hey!"

"And taking off," Celia continued, ignoring her sister's indignant interruption. "Now will you let me go?"

Kíli pretended to think about it, then shook his head firmly. "I don't think so. If you were willing to believe that our friendship meant so little to us that we'd leave it behind at something as little as that, then I'm staying like this until you're firmly convinced that we're best friends again." His words were light, but had a grain of truth to them that made Celia cease with her halfhearted struggling.

They hadn't hurt them with keeping their secret at all, and indeed, seemed to have impressed them, if anything. But they had hurt them by treating their friendship as something that could be easily broken in a moment of panic, and that was something neither of them had ever meant to do.

"I'm sorry," Celia offered sheepishly. "I never meant to imply that you didn't really care about us. I know that neither of you are like that."

"Me too," Elena added her apologies, looking up at Fíli with an exaggerated repentant face. "Can you ever forgive us for not hurting you when we thought we might, although we didn't want to, and instead hurting you when we never meant to?"

Fíli rolled his eyes. "Considering you're our best friends, I think we can make an exception just this once. And now that we've established that we're all idiots who care about each other, can we discuss how we're supposed to approach things now?"

Kíli released Celia, but not before mussing up her hair, causing her to shoot him a glare, which he only smirked at. "Consider it payback for the unwanted wake up call this morning."

She huffed, but ignored him in favor of tucking her loose strands of hair back into her braid. "Well, to start off with, I'm going to tell you the same thing that we told Thorin and Bilbo. We can't tell you everything that's going to happen. Sometimes stuff that looks bad has to happen so that something else that's really important can still happen. As in, saving -Middle- Earth important. So that's why some of the stuff happened. And some of it, like the stone giants, couldn't be avoided. As far as I know, that was the only path, and we needed to leave - we couldn't just wait around for however long until the storm had passed."

Kíli glanced at his brother, who shrugged. "That sounds reasonable. We don't have all the different factors to account for that you do, and we're not the randirs. You actually didn't even have to tell us all of that, you know. Just because we knew you know what's going to happen didn't mean you had to tell us."

Elena shook her head, tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. "You were right, earlier. It's nice having someone else who knows what's going on. And it's someone who we're good friends with, too. I mean, Thorin knows, but we aren't exactly close enough to chat easily like the four of us can."

"Shocking," Fíli deadpanned. "He's usually so friendly. But, to get back to the main topic, is there anything we should watch out for in Mirkwood forest? Aside from elves, that is?"

Celia snorted. "I don't think so. There's not really anything that we can change without causing more problems that are even worse, I don't think. El?" She shot a look at her older sister.

Elena pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I think you're right. It's hardly going to be pleasant - it's going to be very unpleasant, as a matter of fact, but there's not really much to watch out for, I guess. At least that we can warn you about. Because if we change anything, then it could lead to us either all dying, or being delayed for a very long amount of time, and I'm pretty sure that Thorin would still die, just from impatience rather than anything else."

"Isn't Mirkwood like the Australia of Middle Earth?" Celia asked thoughtfully. When Elena frowned at her in confusion, she expounded on her previous thought. "Well, I mean, it's incredibly dangerous, the insects are all freakishly large, and the spiders are all monstrous-sized killers. The land itself is dangerous, because of the basic brain-fog it can send you into. Oh, and don't leave the path, or you'll meet said spiders, which are essentially my worst nightmare."

"Celia's afraid of spiders, in case you couldn't tell," Elena stage-whispered. She wrinkled her nose in reluctant agreement. "But she's not wrong about the spiders in this case, however. These ones will try and kill you. So stay away from creatures with more than two legs, yeah? 'Cause in Mirkwood, they'll probably try to kill you."

"Well, that's a pleasant thought," Kíli said sarcastically. "Good to know. If I see an enormous spider rushing towards me, I will try and avoid assuming that it merely wants to ask me to dinner, and instead wants me _for_ dinner. Because it's not like virtually every other living thing that we've encountered so far hasn't tried to kill us in some way, at some point."

"Meh. We should be fine as long as we stay on the path," Celia said dismissively. "Fair warning, though, I tend to lose my head over spiders of any size. So feel free to come running with shoes at the ready if you hear me screaming." She narrowed her eyes at Elena's scoff. "It's a justified fear! I was literally almost eaten by a spider right before we went over to the other world."

She nodded in approval at the wide eyes of the princes. "Oh, yeah! We don't remember much of the life we lived when we were here before, for whatever reason. Elena got to remember a beautiful dwarf woman that was probably a family member, or maybe even our birth mom.

"But do I get such a lovely memory? Nooo, the last thing I remember is the sight of a hideous arachnid three times the size of me, charging at me with fangs at the ready." She huffed. "And you wonder why I have problems. Most people with the equivalent of a three year old mentality would be traumatized if they had to go through something like that. But is my sister overly concerned? Nooo. I'm such a victim," she pouted, crossing her arms dramatically.

Elena snorted uncaringly. "I never focused on that because a) we thought that it wasn't possible for spiders that size to exist, and so it must have been a dream; and b) I was more concerned about the fact that you _still_ have a three year old mentality."

And that was what broke the last bit of tension in the air, as there was a moment of silence before Fíli and Kíli doubled over laughing. Celia tried to maintain her steady glare at her sister, but could only last a moment longer before joining the boys, while Elena looked far too proud of herself.

"So, to sum up today," Fíli said at last, sitting up straight and taking a deep breath, holding up his fingers as he ticked off the various points. "We learned that Celia and Elena are noble idiots," - he ignored the protests -"That Mirkwood is dangerous, and that Celia is scared of spiders. So, basically, we learned nothing new."

He cackled and leaned out of the way when Elena tried to swing at his arm. "We knew all that already, Elena! Don't be surprised by the fact! Celia already announced her fear of spiders to the Company when she thought that a knot on a tree branch was a spider, and screamed so loud we thought she'd been murdered."

Kíli chuckled, then groaned when he heard the voices of some of the other dwarves through the walls of the barn. "I bet that's Dwalin coming to tell us that we're going to be leaving soon. When we found you, Beorn had agreed to give us supplies for the trip through Mirkwood, and was helping Bilbo and Bombur with filling up our packs. I think he'll be loaning us some of his ponies for the ride, as well as a horse for Gandalf."

Sure enough, not a moment later, Dwalin rounded the corner of the barn and peered inside, obviously looking for something. When he spotted them in the far corner of the barn, scattered across the hay, with bits and pieces of it sticking out of Elena's hair, he snorted and shook his head in amusement.

"Should have known that you wouldn't be able to stay clean for long. Although I have to say, I thought the problem would be Fíli and Kíli, not you two lasses."

"What?" Elena's hands flew to her head. She groaned as she felt the hay sticking up here and there, even poking through her family braid. Sighing in annoyance, she began to carefully pick out the pieces, trying to avoid undoing her braid or making the tangles any worse.

"We'll be moving out in a few minutes," Dwalin announced. "Better make sure you have everything gathered up. And make sure you bring your packs by Bombur, so he can add supplies to them." He glanced at Celia, and his lips twitched. "You two ladies will be sharing a pony with the lads again, as we'll be traveling fairly quickly. We want to reach Mirkwood as soon as possible, and the skin-changer says that if we ride fast enough, we should reach the forest within the next two days. Azog and his pack won't dare enter Mirkwood, so they'll be forced to take the long way around."

Fíli nodded. "Understood. We'll go fill our packs now." Dwalin nodded in confirmation then disappeared back around the corner.

Fíli stood, brushing the hay off his knees, then offered a hand to Elena. "Shall we, my lady?"

Elena rolled her eyes, but accepted his hand. "Why, thank you, Prince Fíli."

Fíli released her hand once she was up, Kíli doing the same with Celia, then began heading outside. "We should probably pick up your sketchbook first, though. I think you left it by the garden in your terror."

"We already apologized for that," Celia pointed out dryly. "But I feel compelled to tell you, in order to maintain this atmosphere of honesty that we've been nurturing, that it wasn't just in fear of you that we fled."

"Oh?" Kíli asked, raising his eyebrows as they approached the gardens.

Celia nodded seriously. "It was the smell of unwashed dwarf."

"I don't smell that bad!" Kíli protested. "I washed by the river what, four days ago? Same day as you."

Celia shrugged nonchalantly. "Be that as it may, _Sevig thû úan,_ " she quoted, strolling past a confused Kíli to pick up Elena's sketchbook and hand it to her, before heading back to Beorn's house.

"Wait. What?" Kíli asked, shaking his head before running to catch up to them. "Was that elvish?"

Elena's lips twitched. "One of the first things we ever learned in that language. There are a surprising number of insults available to learn back home."

"But what does it mean?" Kíli persisted. "I know she was insulting me, but what did she say?"

"You smell like a monster."

xXx

As it turned out, Gandalf had filled in Beorn on the true nature of their quest, as well as Celia and Elena's most likely purpose for traveling with the quest once it became apparent that the skin-changer was completely on their side, and more than willing to help them.

Rather than being irritated that they had covered up their real purpose, he had just laughed and told them he'd suspected what they were really doing as soon as he learned that Thorin Oakenshield was traveling with a wizard in the direction of Erebor. He'd also bluntly told them that they needed a better cover story, as even a drunken orc would have been able to tell that they weren't just "visiting kin."

However, he'd found the entire situation amusing, and was more than willing to give them plenty of supplies for their trek through Mirkwood. And when Elena and Celia had shyly asked for extra supplies, as it would most likely be a very long trip through the forests, and they wouldn't be able to get any food or water from inside the forest, he'd quickly agreed, though not without a knowing look on his face. Celia had ignored the quizzical looks from the boys, and stuffed as much food and water as she could fit into her pack, really hoping that they wouldn't run out like they had in the book.

Once they were all ready, they all regrouped by the ponies, where Celia reluctantly mounted the pony behind Kíli, all too aware of the amusement radiating from both him and Beorn as she settled uncomfortably into the saddle, her pack secure on her back.

"I've driven off the pack hunting you for long enough that you should reach the forest in time if you ride swiftly," Beorn announced in his deep voice. "Release the animals once you reach Mirkwood, and they will return to me."

He exchanged a meaningful glance with the wizard and nodded once before turning back to the main group. "Ride swiftly, and travel as long as there is light. The hunters have lost your trail, but they know where you plan to travel, and they will be hunting you again soon. However, they will not dare to enter Mirkwood forest, so you should be safe from them once you enter."

He stopped, standing by the gate that marked the end of the hedge around his house. "But beware of what you find in Mirkwood. There is little you will find there that is fit to eat or drink. There is one stream there that I know of, that is black and strong, and crosses the path. Of that, neither drink nor bathe, for I have heard that it carries enchantment, and a great drowsiness and forgetfulness. And I do not think that you will shoot anything, wholesome or unwholesome, without leaving the path. That, above all else, you must not do, or you will never find it again," he warned.

Thorin nodded gravely. "We will heed your warnings, Master Beorn. You have my thanks for the aid you have given us. We will return your horse and ponies when we have reached the borders of Mirkwood."

Beorn raised a hand in farewell as they set off at a brisk trot in the direction of Mirkwood. Not to be content with just a silent goodbye, however, he also called out for the "little bunny" to take care of himself, his booming laughs audible as Bilbo smacked a hand to his forehead, then slowly slid it down his face, his expression a complete deadpan.

Elena snickered when she caught his eye, her and Fíli riding next to Bilbo. "So... little bunny?" she asked, in a innocent tone that just _screamed_ guilty.

He glared at her. "Not. A. Word. Beorn decided to give me that nickname while you and your sister were off doing who knows what, and leaving me to deal with a giant who has no understanding of personal space!"

Elena held up her hands in surrender, though her grin spoke volumes all on its own. "All right. All right. Besides, he probably came up with something equally demeaning for us, am I right"

Bilbo shrugged, not looking her in the eye. "He... may have asked where the two kits are. Apparently, if I'm a little bunny -" he said the phrase with distaste, his nose wrinkling as he spoke - "Then that makes you two, as my adopted kin, baby rabbits, so to speak."

Celia, riding on the other side of Elena, scrunched up her nose as she thought the nickname over. "Meh, as nicknames go, I suppose it's not too bad. I mean, it could be worse. It could be a lot worse. At least he didn't call us 'sweetie,'" she grumbled.

Elena snorted. "Oh, yeah! The guy at the store who thought you worked there, and called you that in a really condescending tone of voice when you corrected him. I'd forgotten about him," she mused.

"Wait. What happened?" Kíli asked curiously, turning to look at the brunette.

She grinned and cracked her knuckles. "All right. Are you ready to hear the tale of the man who refused to believe Celia really was who she said she was? Plot twist: she was. And he got all huffy and condescending when she tried to correct him." With several willing listeners, and a long day of traveling ahead of them, she launched into a tale of mistaken identity, an irate customer, and her long-suffering sister.

They traveled for the rest of the day, and as far into the night as they could, until it grew too dark for them to travel safely. Then they got up before dawn the next morning, all of them tired and grumpy, and continued on their trek, riding at a swift, but steady, pace towards the slowly increasing dark mass that was Mirkwood forest. They finally reached it early the next day, thankfully without any sign of the orcs that were no doubt still hunting them.

Gandalf dismounted and strode towards the edge of the forest through an ancient archway that marked the beginning of a path, though there were dead leaves and plants seen scattered across it. The entire forest gave off a dark and foreboding feel, and the entire Company seemed to be more alert than usual as they dismounted and began to unpack their ponies.

"The Elven Gate," Gandalf informed them, looking over the archway, that was looking to be badly in need of repairs. "Here lies our path through Mirkwood."

"No sign of the orcs. We have luck on our side," Dwalin declared, though he eyed the forest uneasily.

Gandalf looked at him, then his gaze shifted beyond the gruff dwarf, and he squinted at something in the distance. Trying to see what he was looking at, Celia twisted around and was able to make out what looked like a large bear - Beorn, she realized.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master," Gandalf ordered.

Bilbo timidly approached the forest, a frown upon his face, followed by a curious Celia. "This forest feels... sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no other way around it?"

Gandalf shook his head. "Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south." His voice trailed off as he approached a plant-covered statue slightly into the forest. He seemed apprehensive, then suddenly whipped the vines off of it, revealing a painted-on Eye of Sauron.

Celia gasped and staggered backwards into Elena, who stood beside her with a solemn look on her face, while Bilbo flinched and clutched at his pocket.

Gandalf spun around suddenly, emerging from the forest with an urgent expression on his face. "Not my horse!" he ordered Nori, who had been in the middle of unsaddling his horse. "I need it!"

"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo asked nervously, the rest of the Company looking unhappy at the possibility.

"I would not do this unless I had to," Gandalf told him regretfully, looking at Thorin before turning back to the dejected hobbit. "You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same hobbit who left the Shire."

"I was going to tell you," Bilbo spoke up. "I... I found something in the goblin tunnels."

"Found what?" Gandalf leaned forward with both interest and some suspicion, while Celia watched Bilbo fiddle with his pocket, a frown on her face. "What did you find?" Gandalf urged gently when it seemed as though he wasn't going to answer.

"My courage," Bilbo said at last, seeming to have come to a decision, removing his hand from his pocket.

"Good. Well, that's good. You're going to need it." Gandalf walked towards his horse then, but stopped by Thorin, still close enough for the girls to hear. "I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me." He looked hard at Thorin, before continuing on to his horse. "This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray," he warned the Company, mounting his horse. Celia looked up as a few drops of rain began to fall, though the sun was still shining overhead.

"You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again," Gandalf said gravely, before wheeling his horse and galloping away. "No matter what may come, stay on the path!" he called, his serious voice flying back to them on the wind. They sat there for a minute in silence before Thorin turned resolutely towards the path.

"Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day. This is our one chance to find the hidden door." And with that, he set off into the forest.

xXx

The first few days of travel really weren't that bad. They still had sunlight flickering through the trees, to help guide their way, and the path was easy to follow. And when they lost that, it became a little grimmer, a little more discouraging, but they still had enough distant light to see by to travel. They had refilled their water skins before entering the forest, and were rationing their food, so they had plenty of that for now, although with a party of sixteen, they began to lighten all too soon.

Celia made sure to stay close to her sister and the two princes, none too fond of the large cobwebs that spanned the trees to either side of the path, although for some unknown reason, none of them ever crossed the path. Fíli and Kíli had glanced at the sisters knowingly the first time they saw one of the cobwebs, although they never saw any sign of their creators.

The nights were the worst, though. That's when the eyes would appear.

Glowing eyes, in varying sizes and clusters, always menacing and never friendly, although they never came onto the path. Celia spent her nights cuddled up close to her sister, and both of them surrounded on either side by Fíli and Kíli, all of them with their weapons close.

And they didn't have a watch-fire either. They gave that up after the first night, when the lights seemed to attract thousands of the eyes, although they could never make out any of the bodies attached to them - although Celia was more than sure she knew what bodies did, and only crept closer to either Kíli or her sister.

Really, though. They were surviving. They had food, they had water, even if it was running a little bit low. They were still on the path, and so far, none of them seemed to be losing their minds, so perhaps things weren't all that bad.

In fact, considering the fact that no one was directly trying to kill them at that moment, perhaps you could even say that things might be going fairly well, considering the circumstances. At least, that's what Celia would have said.

Then they came to the black river Beorn had warned them about, and only had a small boat with which to cross to the other side of the path. In order to get across safely, they traveled across in pairs, and poor Bombur had to go last again because of his weight.

Celia elected to go with him, hoping to deter him from falling in this time, and saving the Company a good bit of trouble, as it seemed that their Mirkwood trek was following the book version of events, at least for now.

Except the old adage, it never rains but it pours, seemed to be even more true in Middle Earth.

Rather than keeping the boat steady when a large white deer came running across the path right as they were about to land on the other side, her efforts to push Bombur fully onto the dry land when he wobbled only sent her splashing into the murky depths below. Her last sight filled her rapidly dwindling consciousness with fear. Before her eyes could close completely, a heavy fog filling her brain, she saw both Fíli and Elena lurching towards her, falling into the river with her.

* * *

 **A/N: Cliffhanger? What cliffhanger? I don't see any cliffhanger. (Although I wonder whose POV it will be next chapter, as it looks like the two usual candidates might be down for the count...) And here we are, approaching Mirkwood. :P**

 **To be honest, I hate spiders. With a passion. Which is why I'm very glad I have a dad and two brothers who are more or less willing to come kill the hairy beasts whenever I am forced to see one (usually a shrill scream a few octaves above what I can normally reach will let them know). So the spider scene is going to be fun. Not.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, PugLife4Ever, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Lol, looks like you'd be right! And, umm... I don't know, tbh. They probably have some version of dentists, as everyone still has at least most of their teeth. :/ And it is a very sad thing to have to live without pizza and chocolate. Many tears were shed when the sisters discovered this fact. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked this chapter! :)**_

 _ **Lady SilverStar2: Lol, that's what I was going for! Hope you like this chapter, too! (Is this a better ending?) ;)**_

 _ **PugLife4Ever: Hahaha, here's the next chapter, although I don't know if there are many more answers to be found here... Hahaha, thanks for the compliment! I know I cringe when I look back on my old writing (and I still haven't gotten around to editing the earlier chapters on here yet). And...Tauriel may or may not make an appearance. Probably, because who doesn't want to see her taking down the orcs and totally defying Thranduil? As for the dungeon scene, there is a very, very, very large reason why that will not happen, and I'm willing to bet that none of you know what it is yet, lol. (But feel free to guess... I'd enjoy seeing you try...) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (Although you probably won't like the ending. *shrugs*) :)**_

 _ **E: Aww, thanks! That means a lot to me! And their mother is very important... Just not quite yet. She'll come in later, and it'll be pretty obvious. However, I will say that I threw in a pretty decent hint as to why she might be important in an earlier chapter, although it probably won't become obvious until it's fully explained. And it looks like Fíli and Kíli took it well, although the others have yet to find out... And yeah. I don't really like Mirkwood either. I would probably reach the forest and be like, "Nope. I'm out!" I hate spiders. Forget Smaug, I'd rather face him than a giant spider any day. As for Thranduil... I'm not sure if he'll be as big as a jerk as he was in the movies yet... he might be, for a certain reason... And I hope you survive! I like my readers, and I prefer them alive. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked this chapter! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: If I were Tolkien, a spider plague would have fallen upon the land millennia ago, and the only spiders left would be tiny, and all live in Mordor, on Sauron's tower. And maybe Saruman's bed. Because reasons.**


	27. Chapter 27 - Don't Drink The Water

~~ Elena ~~

It had started out as a normal enough day. Well, normal for yet another day spent traveling through a dark and murky forest, where it seems like every living creature has it out for you. Food supplies were starting to get low, but they had enough for a ways yet, they just had to remember to ration them.

They had plenty of water, having rationed that from the very beginning, so while things were not the best they could have been, they were not the worst either. There'd even been a bit of a bright spot when Fíli had been declared injury free by Óin and was able to return the sling to the healer. He'd been more than happy to lose the restricting device.

And there had been no signs of any of them losing their wits, or anything similar to that that they had witnessed in the movie. Everyone seemed as sane as they had been at the beginning of the trip, although they didn't necessarily mean much for a lot of them.

And then they had come to the river. The black look of it, and Beorn's warnings, kept them from touching it, although they quickly realized that they had no way to cross until Bilbo spotted the boat at the opposite side of the river. Kíli was able to secure it with a hook attached to an arrow he shot at it, and they were able, with the aid of Óin and Glóin, to pull the boat over to them, although it nearly floated away from them in the current twice.

Then there was the new problem regarding their noticeable lack of oars. They ended up solving that problem by having Fíli throw another hook across the river, so that it latched onto one of the trees, and held fast, thus allowing them to use the rope to pull themselves across.

Thorin ended up deciding that the small boat could hold perhaps four of them at a time, and no more, and that as the heaviest, Dwalin and Bombur should go last. He was about to order Elena and Celia to get in the first boatload when Elena noticed her twin shaking her head subtly but determinedly when Thorin glanced their way.

His lips tightened and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but he didn't say anything. The two princes seemed to have picked up on it as well, for they didn't protest when it was announced that they and the two girls would be one of the last to leave, only glancing at each other thoughtfully.

Most of the journey went without incident. Bilbo was one of the first to cross, along with Thorin, although he did not look very happy about it. He may be a Took, but he was also a Hobbit. And Hobbits are not known for their ability to swim. Indeed, few, save for perhaps those who grow up beside the waterfront, such as the Brandybucks, are able to do so.

But when it came to them, Celia sent Dwalin ahead with her sister in her place, saying that it might be better if there was a lighter occupant in the last boat. Dwalin looked at her hard for a moment before grunting in agreement, stepping into the boat with the others.

They cast off, though not without Elena looking back at her worriedly, resolving to wait right at the edge of the bank to help, if need be. They, too, arrived safely, and sent the boat back to her sister and Bombur.

All too soon, they were loaded up, and the remainder of the Company began to tug on the rope, pulling the boat towards them. Elena stationed herself close to the edge, Fíli following her, although she made sure she was on stable ground, and not about to slip and fall into the river. He shot her a glance, obviously wondering if she thought something was going to happen. She licked her dry lips, watching the faint forms of her sister and the Company cook grow closer.

"Don't touch the water," she whispered, trying to keep her voice down. "But be prepared to do an emergency rescue without touching the water, if necessary. I'm trying to remember the trigger, and I think it might be a deer, or something like that. So just keep an eye out for anything that looks different."

He looked a bit confused at some of her words, probably not understanding some of the more modern ones, but nodded, his body tensing slightly as he turned back towards the approaching boat. He relaxed somewhat once the boat bumped against the edge, believing the risk of someone falling in to have lessened, although he was still suitably cautious.

And then it happened.

Bombur was stepping out of the boat when a white hart leapt out of the shadows on the side of the forest, knocking over some of the dwarves in its path, before shooting out of sight once more. Having been one of said unfortunate dwarves, Elena looked up just in time to see disaster strike.

Bombur had stumbled when the hart landed near him, nearly on top of him, and started to slip, shoving the boat away from the bank with Celia still inside, then started to fall backwards towards the dark waters flowing beneath.

But Celia had been watching, and leapt forward, launching herself out of the boat - and sending the boat consequentially further downstream - towards the rotund dwarf. Her extended hands and her momentum were enough to push him the other way, sending him stumbling up the bank, where his worried brother was quick to steady him.

But now Celia was falling. Elena's eyes shot wide and she dove towards her sister, knowing Fíli was doing the same behind her, just a fraction slower than her. But it was enough. Her hand connected with Celia's outstretched hand just as her twin sank beneath the water, latching on tight. Elena's own momentum carried her towards the water, and she sucked in a desperate breath right as her arms and face smacked into the water, accidentally swallowing some before a hand gripped the back of her tunic and pulled her out of the water, hauling her sister with her.

She felt her head be laid across someone's lap as she jerked, trying to cough the water out of her lungs, felt her sister's hand slip from hers. Her eyes blinked open, but everything was blurry, and she could only vaguely make out Fíli's worried blue eyes hovering over hers.

"Elena, can you hear me? You fell in the water! Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

She felt her desperate coughs slow to match her decreasing heartbeat, her eyes fluttering shut, the last thing she heard being the worried sounds of... someone... one...

xXx

 _Everything was dark, at first. She felt weightless, just floating along. She heard voices, every now and again, always sounding worried, although sometimes there was a false cheer, and she felt as though it were being directed at her, though she did not know why, or who was calling to her._

 _But they were always calling to her, asking her to come back, to wake up, to open her eyes. She did not know why they called... or why they wanted her to open her eyes. There was only darkness, though it did not feel threatening. It felt warm, and safe._

 _Then, things began to shift. A light, some distance away. She felt idle curiosity stir, and floated towards it, only to be sucked in once she grew close._

 _She gasped, her eyes shooting open as memories of who she was began trickling in, though she did not recognize where she found herself. It was a stone room, tastefully decorated, and seemed to belong to someone wealthy. Inside was... herself._

 _Older, though. Her long brown hair now brushing the bottom of her ribs, although it seemed to have been curled, and a few more braids had made their appearance. A golden circlet with a single jewel in the center crowned her head, and she wore a rich gown, white in color, with dark blue accents, her locket resting on top of her gown._

 _She was pacing back and forth in the room nervously when the door opened and another feminine figure slipped in. Her other - future? - self turned and embraced the girl, who she now recognized as her sister, also older._

 _Her black hair was elaborately braided into a bun, although she had two curls laying loosely on the sides of her face. She wore a dark blue dress with silver accents, although her locket was hidden by her gown instead of on display, and one arm hung limply at her side when she spoke._

 _The two spoke for a while, her future self evidently needing comfort about something, before another female dwarf, older and also elaborately dressed, slipped in, hugging her and kissing her on the forehead before tugging her out of the room, a grin on her face and tears in her eyes. The vision seemed to fade after that, the lights going out and leaving her alone in the fog once more._

 _She didn't know how much time had been spent aimlessly floating when she saw another light, once again being sucked in, only for much the same thing to happen, several times over, though never as long as the first time. She didn't remember all of them, only glimpses._

 _A battle, brutal and bloody, a voice screaming her name._

 _A tall figure, her mother, fighting desperately in battle, with all the grace of a warrior as she struggled towards them._

 _A dark blue bead, gold runes etched on it, held towards her by a hand she knew she recognized, though it shook._

 _She saw Azog, looming over Fíli, saw herself jump forward, screaming his name as he was stabbed._

 _She saw her and her sister and the two princes, all looking older, fleeing through the woods from something, though it was not enough and they were swallowed up greedily._

 _A sword descending towards her, a baby's wail, a cry of anguish._

 _Hooded creatures that had no real physical form._

 _And finally, a gold ring, laying on a silver chain atop someone's neck, although she could not see whose._

 _But she could hear the whispers, all dark, all evil. All searching desperately for that person. All coming from a hideous fire burning atop a tower, in a dark land, shrouded in cloud and smoke._

 _She was struggling, trying to breath against the stench of pure evil, trying to escape back to the happier sights from earlier. But she couldn't move, could barely breath._

 _Then, a sweet smell, a breath of fresh air came drifting through the smoke, sucked in by her greedy lungs. She breathed it in deeply, feeling strength returning to her, and followed the smell of life away from the haze of darkness. As she traveled back into the fog, she heard a voice, calling her name. It wasn't like the whispers from before, promising pain and evil._

 _This voice was kind, and concerned. It promised safety and comfort. And it was pleading her name, calling her to it. She caught a flash of blue, and for some reason it only spurred her on, following the trail left by the sweet scent and the voice, suddenly trying to make her way out of the fog she had hitherto been content to simply float in. The voice seemed more urgent now, as if it had sensed her desire to find it, calling to her more frequently, calling her name._

 _It stopped, all of a sudden, and so did she, lost once more in the fog, unable to find her way without a guide. She looked around, feeling alone and afraid for the first time. She didn't know how long she was there for, floating aimlessly, but all of a sudden, she caught the scent from earlier and spun around, trying to get her bearings. The voice returned too, and with it, her sense of security. She practically flew towards it, determined to get out of this fog, to do what it was asking, to just..._

 _open..._

 _her..._

 _eyes..._

It was a surprisingly difficult task, as once she became aware that her lids were shut, they seemed glued that way. But she forced herself to continue, realizing that her senses had been dulled as they gradually came back to life.

She could still smell that sweet scent, somewhere close, encouraging her in her attempts to wake up. She could feel something wrapped around her, carrying her, although it came to a stop, her sense of hearing becoming clear in time for her to hear the voice call something out, sounding excited. They were still encouraging her in her efforts, so she tried one last time, using what little energy she possessed to pry her eyelids open.

The first thing she saw was blue. Then, as she blinked blearily at it, it slowly became more clear until she realized that it belonged to someone's face - and she knew their face.

A wide grin broke out on Fíli's face as he realized that she was actually looking at him, and recognized him. "Óin, she's awake!" he called excitedly, gathering the attention of the rest of the group. "She seems a little foggy, but she's awake!"

Elena took in a deep breath, memories starting to trickle back as dwarves began to crowd around her, chattering happily, before being pushed back by the grumpy old healer, who bent over her, looking both grouchy and relieved at the same time.

"So, you're finally with us again, eh?" he said. "How do you feel?"

She blinked blearily at him in confusion, still trying to get her eyes to focus completely. "Sleepy," she yawned. "Why are you -" she belatedly realized that she was being securely held in Fíli's arms. "Why am I being carried? Did I oversleep?"

He chuckled. "No, took a bit of a spill in an enchanted river and decided to sleep away the rest of the trip through this blasted forest."

She yawned again. "Oh. That's nice. Can I go back to sleep, now?"

"Just a moment, lass." Óin reached over and adjusted something under her chin, bringing the sweet scent closer to her face. He checked her vision, and insisted she drink some water before he let her go back to sleep, which she took gratefully.

She was incredibly thirsty for some reason, although she couldn't be bothered to think about why that might be. She yawned again and nestled against Fíli's tunic in an attempt to block out the light and get back to the warmth she had felt before, vaguely noticing right before she dropped off that he looked incredibly red for some reason.

xXx

When she woke up the next morning, she was laying on the ground, settled in between her sister and another warm body, and she could make out another dwarf sized lump on the other side of her sister, all of whom were still asleep. She slowly got up and stretched, wincing at the pain as several joints cracked.

"Oh, man, it feels like I haven't moved for several days," she muttered, trying to work out the knots.

"That's probably because you haven't," Bofur's voice said, filled with humor. She looked up at the hatted miner, who was sitting a few feet away on the path by his still sleeping brother and cousin. He smiled at her in greeting, and continued his whittling. "We were all glad to see you wake up last night, lass. Scared us a bit, you being out for as long as you were. Took your own good time waking up, didn't ya?"

She blinked at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "I'm sorry, what?"

He frowned. "Do you not remember? Wait, scratch that. What's the last thing you remember?"

She chewed on her lip as she tried to think. "Um, I think there was something about a boat, and a river..." Her voice trailed off, then her face grew bright pink as she smacked her hand into her face. "I totally fell into the river and got myself enchanted, or whatever, didn't I?"

"And almost took me in with you." Fíli's teasing voice said from behind her. He joined her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm glad to see you're awake. And in full collection of your wits this time." She hugged him back, but then pulled away and frowned up at him.

"My wits? Did I do something stupid, or something like that?" She paused. "Well, aside from touching the one river we weren't supposed to touch?"

He grinned, though she could see the signs of the recent stress on his face. "Nah, you just slept for two days is all. Made us lug your sleeping body around as if we were your slaves," Fíli teased. "But you seem awake now, so don't expect us to continue the favor."

Her brow wrinkled as a memory from last night came floating back, making her cheeks pink once more. She had just curled into Fíli's arms and fallen asleep, instead of walking, in the middle of broad daylight. Or, whenever it was, because she didn't remember much aside from that. At least he didn't seem to hold it against her, although she seemed to recall him turning bright red when she did that last night.

"Well, thanks for not dropping me, I guess," she mumbled, smirking up at him from the corner of her eye, deciding not to make an issue out of it if he wasn't - she was just going to curl up in a ball and die later, once there weren't fourteen other dwarves around.

The sound of her sister's name from behind her made her turn around, Fíli following her gaze. Kíli was bent over Celia, shaking her shoulder gently, and calling her name several more times before sighing and seeming to give up.

"Still asleep?" Fíli asked with a frown.

"Seems like," Kíli shrugged unhappily, before a small smile came to his face as he hugged Elena. "I mean, she was fully submerged, not just kind of doused, like Elena was. So maybe that had something to do with it," he commented over her shoulder, before speaking directly to her after he released her.

"Glad to see you're finally up. I was getting a bit tired of constantly lugging one or the other of you around," he teased. "Now maybe Celia'll wake up, and we'll all be happy. Fair warning, though, you'll probably be smothered by Bilbo once he wakes up. He's been worried sick, but the forest atmosphere has been tiring him out, and he tends to sleep as much as possible now. He said it has something to do with the forest being sick, and him being a hobbit."

Elena registered the comment about her adopted uncle and filed it away to worry about later, her mind too focused on the part about her sister.

"What's wrong with Celia? And could someone give me the full story, please?"

Kíli exchanged an unhappy glance with Fíli, who shrugged unhelpfully.

"Celia fell in when you did, Elena," he started to explain. "Only you had Fíli right there, and he was able to grab you and pull you out right away, so you were only partially submerged. Celia went fully underwater, and the only reason we were able to get her out was because she was still holding onto your hand. When we pulled you out, she was completely unconscious, and you were well on your way. And nothing we did could wake you up."

He paused. "Although I had the idea that maybe using some athelas we had in Óin's bag might help wake you up." He shrugged and smirked at her wide gaze. "What? I happen to know that athelas has some healing properties, and thought it might help. I paid attention to at least some of my classes. And it might have helped - we put it on you yesterday morning, and you woke up last night. Although it could just be a coincidence, too."

She frowned, a thought striking her. "No, I think it did help. I remember, I was dreaming..." She shuddered, both the princes looking at her in concern. "I was lost, and couldn't breathe. Then, there was this sweet scent, that pulled me away from the dark, towards a voice. It kept calling my name. It helped me find my way, so to speak." She wrinkled her nose. "It disappeared at one point, and I promptly got lost again, which was awesome. Then, it came back, and voila! One semi-awake dwarf from another world!"

Fíli snorted, although Kíli eyed him consideringly, saying something in dwarvish that turned him bright red, before switching to the common tongue so she could understand.

"Fíli was carrying you most of the morning yesterday, and it did seem like you were going to wake up at one point. But then he switched with Dwalin, and you seemed to fall back asleep. He took you back in the late afternoon, and you started waking up again. That, and the knife incident..." he trailed off then spoke in dwarvish again, Fíli growing agitated at his comments while Kíli remained smugly calm.

"You know, guys, it's kind of considered rude to speak another language in front of someone else who doesn't know it," Elena pointed out dryly. Kíli didn't respond, only glancing at her with mischief alight in his eyes, before saying one last comment - that even she could tell was something teasing - that made Fíli turn red again.

"All right, fine. You wanna speak in different languages? Fine. So can I!" she huffed. " _Ego, mibo orch,_ " she pouted, crossing her arms.

"Lady Elena, while I am glad to see you are awake, may I ask what caused you to use such language about my nephews?"

And now it was Elena's turn to turn bright red as she shamefully met Thorin's gaze, the two princes immediately straightening as well. He didn't seem cross at all for some reason, only amused. "I am sure they deserved it, but may I ask why?"

Her brain seemed to stall. "Uh... They were speaking in dwarvish and I couldn't understand them, so I pointed out that it was rude." Yeah, okay, that sounded pretty lame.

His lips twitched. "By insulting them in another language." His eyes flickered to his nephews. "Do you know what she said?" They both shook their heads, looking curious. He raised a stern-looking eyebrow at them. "I though elvish was taught to both of you by your tutors?"

"Yes, Uncle. But we were taught by Balin, who, as you know, is ever the diplomat," Fíli pointed out. "We only know the basics, and he refused to teach us elvish insults, and I'm pretty sure that that's what that was. Something about an orc."

Thorin nodded, accepting Fíli's excuse, although now a full smirk appeared on his face. "I still don't know where you learned such language, Elena, but I'm afraid that I must agree with Balin and ask that you refrain from teaching them such insults, lest they manage to start a war the next time we are so unfortunate as to see them meet Lord Elrond's sons again."

He turned back to his nephews. "We'll be leaving shortly. Prepare yourselves. I assume Celia is still asleep?" The smile left his face at Kíli's despondent nod, though he placed a cheering hand on Kíli's shoulder. "Lady Elena has awoken, do not give up hope that her sister shall as well."

"So... what did you actually say to us?" Fíli asked as Kíli knelt by her sister, casting her a concerned frown before making sure he had everything in his pack.

"Tell you in a minute." She crouched on her sister's other side, frowning at the sight. Celia looked like she was just fast asleep, her chest rising faintly with each breath, and a small plant nestled against her chest. "Is that the athelas?" she asked, noticing a similar plant pinned to her own tunic.

When Kíli nodded, she unpinned the plant and decided it was time for some return teasing of her own. She could guess, at least, what Kíli had been teasing his brother about, and turnabout was always fair play. She pinned the plant to Kíli's tunic, smirking when he looked over at her in confusion, .

"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," she answered innocently. "I just thought that since the athelas helped me wake up, and helped guide me, it might do the same for my sister. And since it was Fíli who apparently helped me awake, but you're the one who's holding my sister, might as well doubly make sure that she'll be led back to you. It should help, right? Double the scent, twice the effect?"

She got a very satisfying blush out of the prince who was usually on the other side of the teasing, although he pretended to ignore her comment and focused on carefully lifting her sister instead, placing her pack over his shoulders next to his.

She lost all thoughts of teasing for a moment, worry filling her at the sight of her sister's unnaturally still body. Celia was so limp in Kíli's arms, not even giving a flicker beneath her eyelid as she was moved. It didn't seem right, but there was nothing she could do, but make sure that the athelas was close to her face as they set off on their journey once more.

She was still tired after her involuntary nap, but the cheer that spread among the group when they saw she was awake for good, and Bilbo's worried smile, were enough to distract her. He'd hugged her tight, then let her go, not commenting on how she still seemed tired. And in return, she didn't mention the bags under his eyes. It was plain to see, and didn't need voicing.

Although the look on both of the princes' faces were quite satisfying once she'd finally translated for them - making sure she was hidden behind Dwalin first, who thought the whole thing was hilarious.

xXx

Celia didn't wake up, though. Not that day, or the next, or the day after that. She just quietly slumbered on, never stirring. The athelas apparently hadn't helped, but they left it on anyways. Ori had even taken to wearing it after one incident involving some food, dirt, Nori, and a promise not to mention the smell and to never bring it up again.

Elena tried not to think about that, about what that might mean, and just focused on setting one foot after the other, and following Fíli, who seemed determined to keep an eye on her since she apparently couldn't do that herself.

It came on without them really noticing. Later, it seemed as though one moment, she could think clearly, and the next, she was as dazed as the others, although she couldn't precisely say when it happened. But she knew that they were all fully aware when Nori came to the dreaded realization:

"The path... it's disappeared."

But even that wasn't as bad as the next horrific realization. They'd spread out in an attempt to find the path - staying within eyesight - before regrouping, making sure they were all together. And that was when they noticed it.

Kíli, Celia, and Ori were gone. And possibly had been for days.

* * *

 **A/N: Meh, it's not the best chapter ending I've ever had, but this is the point where it needs to end, so... at least there's some resolution to what happened last week, right? There's no reason to panic, or anything...**

 **So... I left some pretty broad hints in this chapter as to some future things, but they're more subtle than you might think. (Not everything that happened while Elena was in lala land is going to happen - although I do have a place for each little tidbit, so maybe I will include some of them after all...) Seriously, though, I left at least one hint as to their personal future, and another major hint as to something else (clear as mud, right?) ;D**

 **Also, Elena told Kíli (and Fíli) to go kiss an orc. (one of the first phrases I learned in elvish, and one of my favorites.)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, LadySwiftSword, Lady Silverstar2, DaLadyofSouls, PugLife4Ever, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Lol, nope. Fíli didn't fall in, it just looked like he did to Celia. And romance? What on earth makes you think there'll be romance in this story? There won't be any romance, and there definitely won't be any bonding between certain people next chapter (although I'm not saying who). Nope. Fíli is just blushing for no reason whatsoever. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter! :)**_

 _ **LadySwiftSword: Hahahaha, no kissing... yet... there's still some characters who have to die *coughs awkwardly* I mean, um, do stuff, before there's any kissing... I want them to have a solid friendship before they move onto a relationship, though it seems like they're already getting there on their own (that's a lot of variations of "there")... maybe a romance soon, maybe they're still in denial... you'll have to wait and see, mwahahaha. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like this new chapter! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Aww, even the ending? Yay! (What about this ending, lol?) I'm glad to hear you like it! Hope you like this one! :)**_

 _ **DaLadyofSouls: Yeah, unfortunately, I have no idea how they would be able to figure that out. On the plus side, they all stayed fairly sane in this chapter. As for the webs... we'll have to see. ;D Thanks for reviewing! :)**_

 ** _PugLife4Ever: Well, here's the new chapter! And I'm really glad to hear that you liked the last chapter... there's a bit of everything in this one. And I can't say anything for sure as to why there'll be no Kíliel dungeon scene, but there's definitely a very good reason it won't happen, I promise. :D And there will be Kíli/Celia bonding for sure! (Maybe next chapter, maybe not... depends on whether or not she wakes up). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter! :)_**

 ** _E: That's all right. I'm always willing to hear people tell me they love my story, lol. ;D And I would probably do the same thing in that situation - blurt out absolutely everything and just be like, "Please don't hate me..." And there's a bit of Mirkwood, but the not the worst of it, unfortunately. :P (Stupid spiders) No memories were harmed in the making of this chapter, they were just temporarily put to sleep for a bit. Elena, thankfully, has not forgotten everything after Bilbo's house (That'd be awkward, considering everything I just hinted at this chapter). Thanks for reviewing! I love hearing from all my readers, and I hope you enjoyed this one! :D_**

 ** **Also, there are now over 10,000 views for this story! You are all awesome, and thank you all so much! :D****

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I've been reading the Hobbit as I worked on this chapter, and I'm nowhere near as good. Sorry, guys. I'm not him.**


	28. Chapter 28 - Nightmares or Reality?

~~ Celia ~~

It was strange if she thought about it. One minute, she was soaking wet, and sure she had just pulled Fíli and Elena into the water with her, which could have all sorts of unfortunate ramifications for the quest.

The next, she was watching them stumbling through the forest, their eyes glazed and their actions uncoordinated. She could see the others in the Company doing the same, all staggering about as if they had been drugged. It was almost as if she were watching actors on a stage, where she was standing there with them, but unable to interact with them.

It all seemed familiar to her, like she had seen it before, but something seemed off, as well. There was something - someone? - missing. Several people, in fact, although the dwarves were all milling around, so she couldn't quite make out who was missing.

They seemed to notice their missing members as well, for several of them bore worried looks on their faces, and Fíli made sure to keep Elena close, occasionally dropping his hand to the hilt of his sword defensively and moving in front of her, as though seeing a threat she was unable to see. Then he would shake his head and drop it again, blinking hard.

It was like they were all wandering in and out of lucidity, though they managed to still maintain some small level of watchfulness, and tried to keep going in one straight direction. Celia frowned, feeling the memories dangling teasingly at the edge of her mind, just out of reach.

It wasn't until Thorin finally stopped and yelled sharply, bringing everyone to a halt, that she drew in a sudden breath with her intangible body, starting to remember where they were as a sweet, refreshing scent came trickling by, clearing up the cobwebs fogging her mind.

She drew closer to the Company, wincing instinctively when Dwalin seemed to walk right through her, though neither of them seemed to be affected by it. She shrugged it off, frowning when she noticed that Bilbo was gone as well, though she had noted him stumbling around earlier.

She swung her head around, scanning the murky forest for signs of her adopted uncle, and spotted him clambering up a tree, his expression determined. Her eyes narrowed, and she began to scan the clearing again, this time warily, recalling this to be the time when the spiders attacked.

She didn't know what had really happened to her, that she was only able to watch, and not interact, nor what had happened to the other missing members. Everything seemed shrouded in mist, and she wasn't sure if that was a result of what had happened to her, or if it was actual mist in the forest, as she was unable to clear it away either way.

Still, she kept watch, trying to see whether or not the spiders were coming, her heart starting to pound in her chest at the thought of seeing one of her worst fears - and memories - come to life.

She wasn't the first to see one, though. A shrill scream made her spin around in time to see a horrifying sight. Elena had spotted something in one of the bushes, and, perhaps influenced by whatever enchantment lay on the forest, had moved closer to inspect it, heedless of the possible dangers and what their memories told them lay waiting.

Now, she lay defenseless on the ground, trying futilely to scramble backwards as a giant tarantula-like creature sprang out from the bush and towered over her, hissing menacingly, waving its two front legs in the air threateningly as it reared above her.

Celia screamed her sister's name at the same time Fíli did, and was just as useless at trying to reach her in time. Elena screamed again, terror filling her voice as she managed to flip over and onto her feet, trying to run away, only to come face to face with another spider as it dropped from above, knocking her back down to the ground as it stabbed her in the shoulder and injected her with its venom.

Fíli shouted her name again, but was unable to reach her, as more spiders began dropping from the trees, attacking the Company and quickly subduing them, wrapping them in silk before dragging them off into the forest.

Bilbo dropped from the tree right as the last spider disappeared, though Celia could make out several more hiding in the shadows and branches around him, waiting to pounce. He had his hand on his hilt as he looked around the clearing with worry, calling out their names.

She clenched her fists, wishing she had something she could do to warn him. Knowing it would be useless in the end, she ran towards him anyways, hoping that at least he wouldn't be alone when they attacked. But she mistimed her run, and skidded to a stop past him when he moved suddenly, slipping on some mud.

Unfortunately for her, that meant she came face to face with a hissing arachnid right as it dropped from a tree, and before she could stop herself, she ran right into it, screaming and cringing, covering her face in a futile attempt at protection as she fell to the ground, though she never actually touched the spider.

When she finally dared to open her eyes, Bilbo was being wrapped in spider silk, and hauled up into the trees. She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to throw up, but willed herself to follow them, essentially hovering in mid-air in the midst of the trees, cobwebs spread everywhere, though she was thankfully unable to feel them.

Bilbo's cocoon was laid on top of a large branch, before the spider hauling him turned around, preparing to inject him with its poison. She barely had time to whisper a prayer before his sword suddenly swung straight up through the webbing and into the spider above him, gutting it and flipping it off the branch to the ground far below.

Bilbo quickly stood up and pulled off as much of the webbing as he was able, looking around and taking in his new surroundings with a determined look on his face. His fist clenched tighter around his sword as he noticed the cocoons hanging from various branches, bits of their beards or weapons poking through.

He quickly ducked behind the trunk of the tree as another spider came crawling up, bearing another one of the dwarves, snugly wrapped up in its webbing. He pulled something out of his pocket and stuck it on his finger, Celia's eyes immediately drawn to the flash of pure gold in the midst of the dull greens and browns. She staggered backwards as much as she was able when she was floating in mid-air, feeling a strong sense of revulsion wash over her as her vision changed to what was presumably his.

Everything seemed shrouded in mist, and she could hear faint whispers at the edge of her mind, that only filled her with a dark sense of foreboding, slowly growing louder, though never any clearer. She clutched her hands over her ears and closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the darkness she felt all around her, from the spiders, the forest itself, and the evil ring her uncle wore unknowingly on his finger. It grew closer and closer, seeming to overwhelm her as she curled in on herself, trying to block it out, begging for it to stop.

Just when she thought it was never going to stop, that her family and everyone she had grown to care for on the quest, were going to be lost to the spiders and the threatening darkness, she felt the whispers stop, and felt a dim ray of light pierce through the gloom to find her face, giving her new hope as she slowly uncurled and opened her eyes.

She was on the ground again, and most of the dwarves had been freed from their cocoons, although they were all still covered with cobwebs, and fighting fiercely against the spiders, who were furious that they might lose their meal.

Bilbo was some distance away, sword in hand and his hand covering his mouth as he stared at his other hand in shock and disgust, covered in cobwebs and gore. The dwarves managed to fight off the spiders, and began running through the forest again, chased by the hideous creatures.

They jerked to a halt when more spiders dropped from silk threads in front of them, hissing threateningly. Thorin, at the front of the group, raised his sword to fight, but stopped and peered upwards.

A blond elf, immediately recognizable as the Mirkwood prince, ran through the treetops and swung down a spider's silk, killing it before flipping to the ground and sliding underneath the spider threatening Thorin, slicing it in half and coming up kneeling, an arrow aimed directly at Thorin as more elves swung down to join them, taking on the other spiders and quickly killing them as the dwarves watched with various emotions.

"Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf," Legolas spat. "It would be my pleasure."

Thorin glared at him, but did nothing, the Company now almost completely surrounded by elves, all with their bows aimed at them. A cry for help made them spin around to see Elena being dragged away by the foot by another spider.

"El!" Fíli cried, starting to run to her, but jerking backwards when an arrow was pointed alarmingly close to his face.

He was forced to watch helplessly with Celia as a red-haired elf, Tauriel, ran gracefully along the trees, killing three more spiders before slaying the one pulling Elena. She spun to attack another spider, but that meant Elena was left defenseless, backed up against a tree as yet another spider rushed her, trying desperately to reach one of her knives.

Tauriel spun around to help her, but it wasn't needed. Finding a last bit of courage, Elena finally managed to reach one of her knives and drop, right as the spider reached her, sliding underneath it and jamming her knife upward into its head, forcing it through the spider's body as she slid.

She scrambled to her feet once she was clear of the spider and turned around to face it, knife held shakily in her hand as adrenaline coursed through her. It wasn't needed, though, as an arrow whistled through the air and pierced the spider's head, finishing it off.

Elena slid to the ground, looking extremely pale and nauseous all of a sudden, her knife sliding limply out of her hand. She was jerked to her feet roughly a moment later, as one of the elves hauled her up, then began to search her for her weapons, before pushing her towards the rest of the Company, who had been watching worriedly.

"Watch it!" she snapped, wrenching her arm out of the elf's grip. "I was just almost killed twice by a creature from my nightmares, and I barely escaped with my life, and I can still feel the venom coursing through me, which means I feel extremely nauseous right now. So, by all means, be rough with an innocent victim who's done no harm to you, as long as you're fine with me throwing up all over your shoes. Because if you keep jerking me like that, I'm going to."

The guard glared at her, but eased his grip slightly. "There are no innocent victims in your party, dwarf," he sneered, before continuing with his search. He stopped and pulled out her locket, but was unable to pull it off her neck, as it was too small to be lifted off her head. He glared at it, then tried to open it. "What's inside here?" he demanded.

Elena slapped his hand away and clutched her locket protectively, ignoring the arrow that was immediately pointed at her. "None of your business! It's bad enough that you assault us for no reason, are you going to rob us as well?"

The guard opened his mouth to retort, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword, when Legolas intervened.

"Tírgon!" The guard looked up at him, then reluctantly backed off, still angry as Legolas approached, his eyes fixed on Elena. She glared up at him defiantly, still clutching her locket. "What is in your hand, dwarf?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.

She only maintained her angry gaze and refused to answer, probably afraid she would say something that would only get them in even more trouble.

"My lord, it looked to be a locket of some kind. I was unable to remove it, and he refused to let me open it," Tírgon explained, evidently believing Elena to be yet another male.

Legolas frowned, examining Elena more closely before his eyes widened. "What is one of your kind doing here? And so young?"

She looked disconcerted at the unexpected line of questioning, but still refused to answer, though she looked slightly less nauseous now. He asked her a few more questions before turning away in frustration, though still confused.

Celia frowned, watching as Legolas ordered Tauriel to restrain her sister, but to take care doing so, before speaking in elvish. Tauriel's eyes widened, but she nodded, going to stand by her sister, the other dwarves watching in worry.

There was still no sign of Bilbo, and as she watched, Celia realized that Kíli and Ori were missing as well, which would explain the stressed looks that Thorin, Fíli, Elena, and the Ri brothers were wearing.

But she couldn't really do anything in her condition - whatever that may be - and she could only watch helplessly as the Company was marched off, eventually arriving at a long bridge that led to the Woodland Realm before being pushed through. For some reason, she was unable to follow them, and the gates shut in her face, leaving her alone on the bridge, before her vision began to blur again. When it cleared, she was no longer in the forest.

Instead, she was standing in the middle of a battlefield, where Kíli was desperately fighting to save his life from Bolg, Azog's second in command. There was no sign of Tauriel, and from the heartbreak on his face, Azog had already slain his brother.

She flinched as Bolg suddenly pinned Kíli to the ground, raising his sword menacingly, before stabbing him through the heart, killing him. The next instant, she was on the ice with Thorin, who cut off Azog's head before falling to the ground, succumbing to his wounds.

Celia shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "Why are you showing me this?" she shouted into the emptiness, turning away from the sight of her uncle kneeling over the dwarf who had become one of his close friends. "I already know they're supposed to die! I don't need to see it again."

"Because they are not." A tall male, with the appearance of royalty appeared to her side, a dark blue cape swirling around his shoulders, a gold crown resting on his black curls. Power radiated from him, the hair on her arms standing on end as he drew close. "You knew what was supposed to happen in the original telling of this tale. But this," he waved his hand out at the frozen scene in front of them. "Is not the original tale. Surely you have noticed differences by now?"

She stared up at him, eyes wide. "I, I guess," she stammered. "But nothing too different, and it usually followed one of the two storylines. But, uh, who are you?"

"Who I am, is not important at this time," the man said calmly. "Suffice to say, I was able to contact you once you fell asleep, and this is how I may tell you what you need to know."

"Alright, then. What do I need to know? And why are you showing it to me again?" she asked, peering up at him warily and edging away a few steps. "I already knew they were going to die, I've seen it before."

"But they are not supposed to die," he repeated, staring off into the distance. "When you and your sister were sent to your other world, it was to both save your lives, for otherwise you would both have been slain that day, and to familiarize yourself with what was to come. But because of your presence here, the tapestry has been changed."

"I'm... sorry?" Celia said, furrowing her brow. "Tapestry?"

The man waved his hand, and a rich tapestry depicting the battle appeared in front of them, replacing the still-frozen scene of her uncle and Thorin. "The tapestry of life. Each life is a thread, weaving and interacting with others to form a story. He waved a hand again, and the tapestry changed to show the Durin's funerals, their weapons laid out in front of them, and Thorin holding the Arkenstone.

"In the tales of your world, the Durins died, and that was how it was meant to be. But here, there is a different flow to the tapestry. The threads of you and your sister changed the weave of the thread." The tapestry changed, blue and purple weaving themselves into the design. "The Durins' threads were cut too early, leaving their part in the tapestry unfinished, and changing the weave of other threads."

The tapestry unrolled further, depicting Erebor, as it used to be, only this time there were several blank spaces glaring throughout the tapestry at key points, and leading to a collapsed Erebor at the next scene.

"Because of this, Erebor was unable to reach the needed strength when Sauron returned to power. Weakened within by those greedy for power, all claiming the right to the throne of Erebor, there was no strong leader. And when it became known that there were two randir present, who knew of what was to come, they sought to use you and your sister as well. But Saruman learned of it, and took you, thus letting Sauron know you lived as well. Your threads were cut short."

The tapestry became overwhelmed with red and black colors, filled with gaps, and stopping short, the edges ragged and burned, flapping as a harsh wind suddenly blew through, chilling her to the bone.

The man turned and studied her, dark blue eyes determined. "But that is not what is meant to happen. That is what awaits you should you fail."

"Great. No pressure," Celia deadpanned. "But why did the whole tapestry thing burn? Did that mean that Sauron won? And if so, why would he win just because we died? There's no way that we're important enough that everything fell apart without us."

"Tell me, Celestiel," he commented, startling her with the use of her birth name. "How long do you think you could last under the wrath of the dark lord determined to find out what you know? Determined to know who could possibly stop him? Determined to find the heir of Isildur? What would happen if Sauron were to find out all you know?"

She blanched, unable to come up with a good answer.

He nodded, though without satisfaction. "In Tolkien's tale, it was a group of nine of the free folk who defeated Sauron. Of those nine, two made it to Mordor, and yet the ringbearer was unable to give up his burden. The world was only saved because of the creature Gollum, and his own greed for the Ring. Do not underestimate what impact you may have on others." He paused, his brow furrowing. "And yet, I did not call you out of your sleep to tell you this. Only to tell you the cost."

"The... cost?" Celia ventured nervously, feeling more and more lost as the conversation went on.

His gaze seemed to see right through her, as if he could read her very thoughts and memories. "The tapestry can be rewoven, just as clothes can be mended, though they're never quite the same after. Mended, whole perhaps, even, but not unchanged. Blood cannot be saved without blood being spilled. The cost of a life is high."

"I'm not sure I follow you," Celia admitted. "Do you mean that someone else is going to have to die in their place?"

He gestured at the tapestry again. The holes were gone, filled in by the blue and purple threads. The tapestry was woven again, and the design visible and complete. It was changed, marked in a way that could not be forgotten. But it was no longer fading and worn. Rather, the tapestry seemed to stretch on for miles now, an intricate story being played out as each new thread entered the tapestry.

"Blood must be shed. That is what must be done, whether it be the Durins', or the blood of others. It is up to you to decide whose. It does not necessarily have to be lifeblood, but if you step in their place, you will not step out unchanged." He stepped backwards, bowing his head slightly as he disappeared into the darkness, the tapestry slowly fading out of sight.

"Wait! I still don't -" Celia stretched her hand out futilely in his direction, then dropped it, staring at the ground. "That was about as clear as mud," she muttered. "And I still don't know where I am, or even how to get out of here. Or who he was, or if I just dreamed up this whole thing."

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort. "He must have been an elf. Or possibly a wizard. All vague hints, and gloom and doom if we fail. Yay, me. Can't even hallucinate properly."

She looked around at her empty surroundings, where only a dull light from somewhere beyond the fog surrounding her enabled her to see where she was, then plopped down on the ground and sat cross-legged. She put her elbows on her knees, then rested her head on her hands, closing her eyes and taking the chance to properly think things through, as it seemed that she wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. After almost an hour of this - or however much time had passed in whatever this place was - she sighed and sat up straight, shoving her hair out of her face.

"Okay, well, I'm not going to let myself panic over this. We've been planning from the beginning to try and save them, now we just know that we can't fail, or we're all doomed to a horrible death. So, nothing's changed, really, there's just been a little bit more pressure added. That's all, nothing to freak out about." She groaned and hung her head. "Okay, I'm freaking out a little bit. But there's nothing I can do about it, except keep an eye on them, and try and stop it when the time comes."

She sighed. "Wish I could actually sit down and talk to Elena without worrying about being overheard, or having to get on the run. But I have no idea where anyone is. Which means I can't worry about that right now. Now I just need to figure out how to get out of here."

She got to her feet and picked a random direction, wandering aimlessly, her mind constantly ruminating on what she had learned that day - whether it was from a figment of her imagination, or not.

By the time she noticed that it had been getting gradually lighter, she had come to the decision that she would step into the Durins' place, and try to save all of them, if possible, no matter the possible cost. After all, if she died then, there would be no possible way for Sauron to find out what she knew, and the Durins would hopefully be alive, and able to bring Erebor back to a stable and prosperous kingdom.

It was a win-win situation, with the only downside being that she might be dead. But, that was the worst case scenario for a best-case scenario. And she was always the optimist in the family, choosing to look at the bright side of things whenever possible, as opposed to Elena's more logical approach.

Her thoughts trailed off when she noticed the light in the area growing darker and slowed to a stop, her eyelids growing heavy. She was quickly growing weary, and she wondered vaguely if she should just lay down and take a nap.

A few more slow steps, and she wasn't sure if the lack of light was coming from outside, or from her repeatedly closing eyelids. She swayed where she stood, then felt herself pitch forward, her mind going blank.

xXx

She stirred, drawn out of her heavy sleep by something shaking her shoulder tentatively. She grumbled, and the shaking stopped, then resumed with greater frequency. She grumbled again, lifting up her hand and trying to push away whatever was shaking her. She felt her hand connect with something soft, then heard quiet laughter.

"Celia. Celia! Can you hear me?"

She furrowed her brow and tried to snuggle deeper into the surface she was laying on. "Mm, go away," she mumbled grumpily. "'M sleepy."

But the voice was relentless, and kept on trying until she reluctantly opened her eyes, and made out the blurry shape of the dark-haired prince bending over her. His face lit up with a relieved grin as soon as he saw that her eyes were open and she was looking at him.

"Celia! Thank goodness you're awake! I was beginning to think you'd never wake up! Are you feeling all right?"

"I was," she whined. "Until someone decided to wake me up. What'd you do that for?" She was too awake now to go back to sleep, so she grumpily sat up, rubbing her bleary eyes and yawning, unsure why Kíli seemed to be stifling laughter.

"Because you've been asleep for the last six days," he said at last.

She jerked upright, suddenly wide awake, and stared at him with wide eyes. "Six days? What was I - " she stopped and slumped down again. "Shoot. I fell in the river, didn't I? And dragged Fíli and Elena down with me. Are they still asleep? Where are they?"

She twisted to look around, realizing for the first time that she was lying in a cocoon of blankets in the middle of the path. Kíli's blanket lay next to hers, and there was another that she didn't recognize on the other side of her. But other than that, there was no sign of the rest of the Company.

"In fact, where's everyone else?"

"Celia..." Kíli hesitated. "Fíli never fell in the river. And Elena woke up about two days after you both fell in. We think that because she only barely fell in, she didn't sleep as long. But you were completely submerged, so we haven't been able to wake you up at all until today. And everyone else is, well," his shoulders slumped. "Well, we don't know where anyone else is. It's just me, you, and Ori, though he's down the path a bit, trying to see if he can spot anyone else."

"They're gone?" she repeated disbelievingly. "Where did they go? What happened?"

Kíli shrugged unhappily. "We don't know. About two days ago, I think all of us were starting to get a little affected by the forest. Ori and I were a little bit better off than the rest, we think because of the athelas we pinned to our tunics." Celia followed his gaze, just now noticing the small plant pinned to his tunic, and the similar one on hers. "We thought it might help you both wake up, due to its healing properties, and it seemed to work on Elena, so your sister gave up hers to try and surround you with more if its scent," Kíli continued, looking oddly embarrassed for some reason.

"At any rate, both of us seemed to be a bit more clear-headed then the rest of the group. We focused on staying on the path, while I carried you, and then, at about noon two days ago, I looked up, and Ori was the only one in sight. We doubled back, and then tried moving forward again, trying to catch any sign of them. But we couldn't find anything, so we kept going, focusing on staying on the path. Hopefully we'll meet them at the end of the path, and they just moved too fast for us and weren't paying attention to keeping us in the group."

Celia grimaced as memories of her dream came back to her. She was pretty sure it was just that - a dream - but she was also willing to bet that something similar to that had also happened to them.

"I don't think they're still on the path, Kíli," she said reluctantly, feeling more awake as the minutes passed.

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Remember when Elena and I told you that we knew what was going to happen, and that some bad things had to happen so that good things could happen?" she hedged.

He nodded, frowning slightly.

"Well, one of the things that had to happen included the Company getting lost in the forest when they wandered off the path. They ended up being captured by Thranduil's guards, then escaped to Lake-town. So, if we keep going, we should hopefully reach Lake-town, and we can reunite with them there."

"Can we just leave the path and try to find them?" Kíli offered.

She shook her head immediately. "If we left the path now, we could get caught by spiders, and die before we found them, assuming they haven't been caught by now. And assuming we don't die immediately, or get caught, we could just wander in the forest aimlessly for days, with no direction to follow. Besides."

She scrunched her nose, trying to remember. "I think we're actually pretty close to the end of the forest, anyways. If we keep going, we should reach it fairly soon, although I can't give you an exact estimate in days, or whatever."

Kíli nodded, then glanced around behind her. "What do you think, Ori? Should we keep going, head for the end of the path?"

She froze, feeling for all the world she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar as she turned around to see Ori, coming up towards them calmly.

"It's all right," Kíli assured her, catching on quickly what she had been worried about. "He knows. He'd started to figure it out on his own, a few key comments apparently, and once he asked me about it," he shrugged. "I couldn't exactly deny it."

"We should keep going," Ori said softly, sitting by them and not looking at all startled or unhappy about her knowledge, although he did smile gently and tell her he was glad to see her awake. "We're still on the path, and the athelas seems to be working, so we might as well keep going. And you said the Company would escape, right? Are they all safe?" he directed his question at Celia, revealing a bit of the stress both he and Kíli had been under since their family and friends disappeared.

She nodded, a bit taken aback at his casual acceptance. "Yeah. Thranduil may be a pretentious jerk, but he won't actually mistreat his prisoners. They'll get food and water, and most likely medical treatment if they need it. But I'm just not sure when we'll meet up. But if we keep going, we'll reach the end of the forest eventually, and we should be able to reach Lake-town from there, and then figure out what to do, see whether or not anyone's heard from a group of grumpy dwarves."

Ori glanced at Kíli, who nodded. Despite being younger than the scribe, Kíli had more experience with leading, and thus unconsciously took on the role of leader. They put their bedrolls away, then got to their feet, all of them stretching and wincing after another night spent sleeping on the ground.

On the bright side, Celia was feeling wide awake, and fairly energized, and was thus able to walk for most of the day before succumbing to her still-tired body, and had to be carried pig-a-back by Kíli and Ori until they stopped for the night.

It was only slightly humiliating.

They traveled through the forest for another three days, all of them growing wearier as it seemed that their journey would never end, even as they grew closer to their goal. Their food was growing low, and they had all had to tighten their belts a few notches, while still trying to stay on the path. Their spirits were low, and they were all losing a bit of hope when they noticed that trees were growing less dense, and the light more clear.

The sight gave all their spirits a much needed boost, and on the fourth day, they stumbled out of the forest into a rocky clearing by a wide river, and decided to camp there for the night.

Overall, it was definitely good to get the chance to refill their water bottles, and they finally got to see the sky in its full beauty, looking even more resplendent to them after going without seeing it for so long.

And it looked like the best place in the world the next day when they heard faint shouts and splashes coming down the river, followed by a sudden surge of barrels into the calm waters around the rocks, filled with a sight even more welcome than the sun: their families.

* * *

 **A/N: Whelp. That happened. Celia hallucinates a wise man who tells her absolutely nothing, Elena sasses an elf who apparently has vision problems, Ori knows all, and Kíli brings a whole new meaning to the term, 'natural leader.' But on the bright side, they're all together now, right? It's not like some of them would have been unable to escape, or anything...**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, PugLife4Ever, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: *Shrugs* What can I say, you read my mind and knew my diabolical plot before I could post it... Nothing too much out of the ordinary happened while they were on the path, same old forest filled with spiders the size of trees that want to kill you, you know, the usual. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yay! Haha, yep! Sleepy Elena is a cuddly Elena. And I'm glad I was able to provide a needed break! School can be exhausting sometimes. :/ Bit more "dreams" this chapter... thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :D**_

 _ **PugLife4Ever: Well, I'm always glad to hear it, so that's all right! :D Hopefully you're still interested after this chapter, there was a bit more vague hinting that says absolutely nothing... Hope you like this chapter! :D**_

 _ **E: In a surprising plot twist, Kíli, Celia, and Ori are the only ones not lost! :D Little bit of information leaked, and though it's incredibly vague and hidden in between a whole lot more vague stuff, I did hint at what's going to happen in the end... briefly. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, regretfully, just Celia and Elena.**


	29. Chapter 29 - A Surprising Connection

~~ Elena ~~

Elena huffed as she kicked the bars of her cell angrily. After the stupid Mirkwood prince had seen her locket, he'd apparently realized she was a female - something that should have been blindingly obvious considering her lack of a beard and feminine features - and left her under the charge of a red-haired elleth she'd recognized as Tauriel.

She'd been treated marginally better than the rest of the group, but still ended up having all her weapons taken from her, and ended up locked in a cell like the rest, while Thorin was hauled off to be interrogated. Dwalin had not taken to that or their imprisonment well, and had thrown himself against the bars repeatedly until Balin finally intervened.

"Leave it! There's no way out. This is no orc dungeon; these are the halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the King's consent," he said wearily, taking a seat on the small cot meant to serve them as a bed.

"Is everyone all right?" Fíli called, taking charge while Thorin was gone. "And are we all accounted for, aside from..." he hesitated, wincing. "Aside from our previously missing members? Where is everybody located?"

As it turned out, Bilbo, Thorin, Kíli, Celia, and Ori were missing, and everybody else was scattered around the dungeon; all still a bit queasy from the spider venom, but overall none the worse for the wear. The general speculation was that Bilbo had either been taken for interrogation as well, and they'd missed him, or he'd somehow escaped the elves' notice.

"Do you have any knives left, Fíli, or were they able to find them all?" Elena whispered, grateful that her cell was across from his, if set a bit higher up. She had been placed in one of the first cells near the stairs that led to the entrance, and she wasn't sure if there was a reason for that yet or not.

He shrugged, a brief smirk appearing on his face before he sobered again. "They got most of them. I still have one or two left, but they're small, and won't be of much use. Can't exactly use them to pick the locks, either. They won't work for that. Are you sure you're all right, though? I can't tell in this lighting, but you still looked pale, earlier."

"That could have been because I was almost eaten by a giant spider - again," she reminded him, wrinkling her nose at the thought. "And thanks for the reminder. I still feel sick, but I don't think I'm going to pass out any time soon, and I probably won't be throwing up on any guard's shoes, either, unfortunately."

There was a laugh from Dwalin's cell. "The look on the pointy-eared, tree-hugger's face when you said that! He was much less heavy-handed after that. Good on you for putting him in his place, lass."

"He should never have treated her so roughly in the first place," Glóin huffed. "For all that they don't like us, I never thought they'd stoop so low as to treat a lady like that."

"I don't think he knew I was a girl," Elena pointed out thoughtfully. "He addressed me as though I was male. Which was stupid, because I look like a girl, and I sound like a girl. I mean, seriously. What's up with that?"

"Dwarrowdams don't appear outside our kingdoms very often," Fíli offered. "It was more common before Smaug attacked, but even then they were usually disguised as males for their protection. So it's not that surprising that he was unable to recognize you as such. But if the leader was able to determine what you are, I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to pull you aside for a separate interrogation, probably along the lines of what a dwarrowdam is doing out in the open in such a small group, and undisguised at that."

Elena clenched the bars of her cell a little tighter, honestly not having expected that. "What should I say? We're visiting family? It's none of his business? Go kiss an orc?"

"Works for me," Dwalin shrugged. "Tell him where exactly where he can stuff his questions."

"Eh, I think the leader of the Guard happens to be the prince of Mirkwood," Elena pointed out hesitantly. "So I might have to phrase it a bit nicer than that. The elves of Mirkwood aren't cruel, but I don't exactly want to push their limits, either. I happen to like my current chances of seeing the sun again right where they are, thank you very much. Besides. We don't know whether or not they'll be doing anything with me anyways. They won't exactly take me aside to torture me because I'm the weakest link, or whatever."

They looked up as they heard the sound of a door slamming shut, and saw Thorin being hauled down the stairs, a fierce scowl upon his face as he was thrust into his cell, and the door locked tight, before the jailer returned up the stairs, the key ring jingling on his belt.

"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin asked immediately, holding onto the bars of his cell with anticipation.

"He did. I told him he could go ' _Ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu!_ ' Him and all his kin!" Thorin spat.

Balin closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the door wearily. "That's it, then. That was our only hope."

"Not our only hope," Thorin said enigmatically, sitting down on his cot and leaning against the wall. "But I fear they may take you for questioning next, Elena. He asked me pointed questions about you and your presence in our Company."

"What did you say?" Elena questioned nervously.

He sighed. "I told him your business was your own to tell. He suspects that we are attempting to reclaim Erebor, but he knows how protective we are of our females. Your presence is... unusual. Be prepared for him to ask you your reasons for being with us, but do not be alarmed. Thranduil may be an oath-breaker, and an elf, but he will not mistreat you in his quest for knowledge. Tell him nothing, if you wish. Or, tell him we are attempting to reclaim our heritage, and found you along the way. He has already guessed as much."

Elena nodded, swallowing hard. "Guess I'll just have to try and out-stubborn him, then. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Just fall back on my toddler years? Or, you know, my dwarf heritage? According to pretty much every bit of information about you guys, you're as stubborn as they come."

"Well, you're not wrong," Bofur called after a moment of silence. "Although the more accurate phrase might be, 'As hard-headed as the rocks we came from.'"

Another clang sounded, silencing the group. The jailer and Tauriel came down the stairs, their eyes on Elena's cell. The jailer unlocked the cell, then Tauriel reached in and pulled Elena out, her grip on Elena's shoulder tight but not painful.

"The King wishes to see you," she announced, guiding her towards the stairs.

"Remember what I said, Elena," Thorin told her gravely. "Do what you believe to be best. We are behind you whatever you choose."

The other dwarves shouted encouraging comments towards her, and more derisive ones at the two elves escorting her, before their voices were cut off as the door to the dungeons slammed shut behind her with a bang.

The jailer turned off to a different room, while Tauriel continued up another set of stairs, through tall, elegant hallways. She caught a sight of a painting hanging on a wall in another room, bearing the images of Thranduil, Legolas, and another woman, although she was hurried past it before she caught more than a glimpse of blonde hair and a sweet smile.

They made their way through three more hallways and over several narrow bridges before they approached a room guarded by two fierce-looking elves. Tauriel nodded at them, and they stepped aside to let them through. Inside, in keeping with the usual elvish style, were tall pillars, elvish runes and designs, and a chill feel to the room that was more in keeping with Thranduil himself than with the usual elvish warmth she had felt in Rivendell.

Along the back wall of the room, were steps leading up to a dais, that bore an elegant throne. And on it sat Thranduil, who regarded her coolly, seeming to have collected himself after his 'spat' with Thorin. His icy blue gaze gave no hint of his thoughts or emotions as he watched her approach the middle of the room, before he languidly lifted one hand and gestured for Tauriel to leave. The elleth bowed, then quickly left the room, leaving Elena standing nervously in front of the king.

He said nothing, merely watching her as he reclined on his throne, leaning gracefully against one side. Elena felt her fingers twitching at her side, but resolved not to break the silence first. She was sick, tired, hungry, dirty, terrified for her sister and missing friends, and frankly, rather annoyed about the treatment they'd all received. So, calling on all the skill and grace her mother had given her, she steeled herself and raised her head to return his gaze calmly.

He had to know she was nervous - he could probably hear her heart beating from there, but she refused to give him anything else. She acknowledged the fact that she was practically scared stiff, to the point of feeling nauseous, but refused to believe she was scared witless.

And when she saw him raise an eyebrow at her in an elegant expression that seemed to convey amusement, contempt, and respect all at once, she got the feeling that she had passed some unspoken test.

"So. This is the dwarrowdam who spoke so rudely to my guards," he stated coolly. "Do you have a name?"

She tilted her head. "I suppose so. Most people do, after all. Why do you ask?" she said politely.

His eyes gleamed. "Because I am interested in knowing the name of the first dwarrowdam to grace my halls in many a year. It would be remiss of me as a host if I was unaware of your name."

"Host, and guest, as well as the term 'grace,' all imply free will and being welcomed in visiting these halls," Elena pointed out, blinking innocently at him. "I don't believe any of those terms apply here. Unless you have a different meaning of them than what is usually taken to be their meaning?"

"No, the meanings are the same." Thranduil seemed interested in their little game, a smirk playing about his lips. "Though I find you have much more manners than your kind usually does. Why is that, do you think?"

She shrugged, eyes wide. "I'm sure I don't know. Do you mean that all people who are taken against their will and incredibly insulted for absolutely no reason don't remain polite?" Her eyes were wide with feigned shock, her tone polite, and yet appalled at the supposed rudeness. "I must apologize for them. Judging by your question, it seems that you faced that a lot, and I'm sure you'd never do anything to be treated in such a way."

The King waved a hand in the air lazily. "Of course not. The only people I would ever consider detaining would be those who trespassed in my lands and could be considered a threat to my people."

"That would certainly be the mark of a good king," she nodded innocently. "I suppose it's a good thing that I and my friends, who were trying to protect me, were not seeking to do any harm to you and yours. Although, I must regretfully admit that I am unaware as to whether or not we were trespassing. The property lines were unclear, and I'm afraid we all got a bit lost once we accidentally left the path. I do hope we didn't make you feel threatened in our wanderings. That was never our intention."

"And what was your intention?" he inquired smoothly, though she saw something flicker in his eye at the mention of being afraid of a small group of dazed dwarves.

She cocked her head to the side. "To get through the forest to the other side, of course. What other reason would we have for going through?"

"What indeed?" he smirked, before changing the subject again. "Although, I still do not have a name to call you, and I do not wish to insult you by giving you the improper title. May I know, so that I can give you the proper lodgings?"

"You don't, do you," she mused. "And of course, you do not at all seem like the type of person who would so rudely disdain the basic common decency one should afford others. But do not worry. You have not insulted me at all. I belong with my friends, and you were kind enough to ensure that we were all placed together in our lodgings. I am very grateful for that," she added, dropping a curtsy to him, although the effect was somewhat ruined by the dirt and muck staining her clothes. "After all, a lady should not be separated from her friends and guards."

"Oh no, of course not," Thranduil agreed, taking note of the implied title. "After all, a lady and her guards would definitely not be traveling through my woods to, for all intents and purposes, wake up a dragon and bring fire and ruin to all those who have the misfortune to live around its nest."

"Definitely not," she replied firmly, briefly abandoning the evasive hints and insults she and Thranduil had both been throwing at each other. "We would never do such a thing, and that was never our intent."

"Really?" Thranduil inquired, leaning forward in his chair with interest, sensing the absolute honesty in her words. "Then what was your intended purpose?"

"Not to destroy your kingdom, or that of Lake-town," she returned, arching an eyebrow. "I don't know where you got that idea from, but I'm afraid that it's quite inaccurate."

He suddenly stood up from his throne, sweeping off the dais and down towards her, looking down his nose at her as he circled her. "Really? Because when I spoke to the leader of your group, he did not deny that to be his intent at all. Far from it, in fact. Is it, perhaps, possible that you were deceived in your mission? That they lied to you?"

"I do not know," she returned, fixing her eyes on a far pillar in the room. "I suppose it is possible for people to pretend to be concerned for you, when really all they want is something for their own benefit. So, it is possible, but not very likely. But it matters little to me. I am well aware of my mission, and it is somewhat different from theirs."

"And what might that be?" Thranduil asked, not retorting to her jab, strolling further down the large room. "Might it have anything to do with the gate in the woods, that opened but a brief time ago? It leads to another world, or so the legends say." He narrowed his eyes at her, watching for any sign of reaction to his probing question.

Her eyes widened, for real this time. "What? How long ago did that happen?" If the gate had opened... like the portal that had sent her and her sister here in the first place, and it was in Mirkwood... that could be what had happened to Celia, Kíli, and Ori.

"Just this past week," Thranduil informed her, a dangerous glint now in his eyes, when before there had been none. "You know of what I speak." She couldn't answer, only nodded mutely. "Then perhaps you understand now why I must be cautious of strangers entering my realm, when the gate has opened."

"Please," she whispered, dropping the innocent act entirely, her brown eyes pleading as she stared at the expressionless Elvenking. "Did - does anyone know if someone went through? My younger sister and two of our friends went missing a few days ago, and we have seen no trace of them since. If they went through the gate..."

Thranduil's expression softened slightly. "Be at peace. Your friends have not gone through the gate. I was merely testing you, and now I have my answers."

"Answers to what?" she asked, dry-mouthed. What had she just told him? Had she done something irreparable? Changed the timeline of events so that they wouldn't reach the mountain in time, because now Thranduil was suspicious? The fear now coursing through her didn't help her still-churning stomach as she waited tensely for his answer.

"When I first heard there was an undisguised dwarrowdam in the presence of Thorin Oakenshield, whose only purpose for traveling these paths could be to return to Erebor, I was intrigued." His tone was light, his stance, calm as he strolled to the door, talking to someone outside before shutting it again, keeping his back to her. "But you were also searched, and that revealed far more interesting results to me." He turned around and faced her, something hidden under his sleeve.

"Imagine my surprise to first hear that your birth-locket was made of mithril, a metal rare and precious beyond count. Your parents must have indeed been wealthy to grant you such a gift, or, perhaps, it was not a gift from them."

She squirmed, wishing he would just get to the point. "I guess I don't really know. We've had the lockets for as long as we can remember. My sister and I lost our parents at a young age, and we ended up being raised by another woman."

He nodded. "Which brings me to another point." He held up the object, revealing it to be her sketchbook. He continued speaking before Elena had the chance to voice her anger over them going through her private possessions. "The woman you drew here, is she the one who raised you?" He flipped it open to a marked page, revealing the picture of her mother she had drawn over a year ago.

"Yeah?" she said questioningly. "How did you know? I didn't write it on the page or anything. Why?"

"Because," he answered, the first sign of emotion glimmering in his eyes, infinitely sad and yet hopeful. "That woman is my wife."

Elena actually staggered back a step, shock coursing through her as she stared at the Elvenking. "What?" she gasped. "But - but, how? What?"

"Presumably, the same way you arrived there, I would guess," he said quietly. "The gates always begin to activate shortly before someone enters or exits from them. We knew of the gate, but resolved only to guard it, knowing the Valar would use it when they deemed fit. One day, many years ago, my wife rode out, beyond our realm, and was waylaid by orcs. She fought them off, but strayed too close to its reach, and was sucked in, according to my best guess. We believed her to be dead, taken by the orcs, and grieved for her. But I hunted down the last of the party, and questioned them. They denied ever killing her, and said she was taken by a strange wind."

"So, you thought she was dead at first, but now you think she was taken to the other world?" Elena questioned, trying to figure it out.

"Yes. Your picture of her exactly matches ours, though I do not believe she had the form of an elf in your world?" he said, curiosity evident in his tone as he mentioned her other world. He held out a small slip of paper, and on it, clearly sketched with a loving hand that was not her own, was her mother, dressed in a royal garb and holding a small, blond child with pointed ears, both laughing at something.

Elena reached a hand out to touch the paper, then drew back, realizing the paper was very old and fragile, and, further, that it was not her place. "Yes. We were all human, there. Her, my sister and I," she admitted. "But my sister and I were born here, and then supposedly went through the gate as young children, and were found there, then eventually adopted and raised by her.

"Then, roughly two years ago, my sister and I came through the gate again, this time as dwarves, rather than humans. We were taken in by another kind person, and we figured that since there were only humans in our other world, we all became humans when we went over there, and returned to our natural form when we returned here."

She raised her eyes to the king, supposing she might as well be completely honest, or close to it. He had already pretty much figured out who they were. "She never told us who she really was. She looked sad when we asked about it, so we didn't bring it up very often. We just pretended that she was a runaway princess. Which, now that I think about it, was surprisingly close to the truth. She was happy enough, I think. She loved us, and we loved - love her. She was still living when we left, but I don't know how much time has passed for her since we've been here," she apologized.

He shook his head, his eyes glistening. "That she still lives at all is the greatest gift you could have given me. I thought she was dead, all this time. Now, you tell me that she lives, and is safe." His voice dropped until she had to strain to make it out. "I never thought to see her again until I crossed the Sea. Now, there is a chance I may see her again before then."

"Are you going to try and cross to her?" Elena frowned, blinking at him in confusion.

"No." He shook his head, a real smile - the first one she had seen - gracing his face and transforming him from cold leader to hopeful husband. "One thing has always been constant with the gates, throughout time. Whatever goes through them will eventually be returned, once their purpose for leaving has been met."

He turned to her. "Perhaps her purpose was to keep you safe, so that you might secure yours in this world." He swung back towards the great doors, his head held high. "The gate has been activated. The blossoms of the queen have bloomed for the first time in centuries. And I find myself feeling a hope that has long been dead. Something tells me that she will be returning."

Elena couldn't stop a hopeful smile from spreading across her face at the thought of seeing her mother again. Then she paused. "Wait. If she's your wife, and my mother... would that make us..." she hesitated to continue, then went for a safer word than she had originally planned. "Related?"

Thranduil shrugged, though his brow creased in concentration. "Perhaps. If she hasn't changed, she will most likely insist that we share her."

Elena grinned. "That sounds exactly like her. But are you sure you're okay with sharing your wife with two dwarves?" She eyed him. "Because, not to sound rude or anything, but that seems a bit out of character for you."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "If it means that I get my queen back? I would be willing to attempt another offer at peace with Thorin Oakenshield. I have no argument with you, or your sister. Despite what rumors the dwarves may have told about me, I do not hate all dwarves, nor will I turn my back on those whom she loves."

He smirked suddenly. "And I find myself... not opposed to your presence. Your ability to insult without directly appearing to do so is quite skillful. You would make an excellent diplomat."

She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Perhaps then, one day, after all this is over, I might be able to broker some sort of treaty with Erebor." She glanced up at him, feeling mischievous. "Filled with delicately-worded insults, of course."

"Of course." He smirked. "But tell me. You said, 'all this.' Are you referring to Thorin's quest for Erebor? Is your purpose related to that? Or is there some other quest you must fulfill?" he questioned.

She sighed, shoulders sagging as she remembered what exactly, she and Celia had determined their purpose to be. "Yeah. We have to help them with it, for one thing. And then... some stuff after that. We think we're supposed to try and change a few things, keep them from happening, that sort of thing. It's not going to be easy."

"It never is," Thranduil admitted. "I recall one of the randir who came here during the War of the Last Alliance. He warned us what could happen if we failed, if we did not destroy the ring. He told us that the battle would be vicious, and many lives would be lost. And yet, if we did not fight, so many more would be lost.

"And again, when the Greenwood was in peril. The randir warned us about an attack from an enemy long gone. It was brutal and vicious, but we triumphed, and have seen that foe no more. It has always been that way. The randir come to warn us of the calamities. I expect yours will be no different."

Elena shifted, grimacing as the nausea in her stomach made itself known once more. "So, uh, where do we go from here? I mean, I feel like this kind of changes things. We're your..." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Guests, and yet if we don't do this, our mission will fail, and Middle Earth will fall. But I think it's up to you, now." She shrugged helplessly. "We're in your hands. Our mother will probably come back either way, if what you said earlier is correct, and her purpose was to keep us safe."

"Indeed," Thranduil drawled. "You trespassed in our woods. It is within my rights to lock you up as my prisoners until Thorin tells me what I wish to know. And it would hardly do to give my people - and my son - hope that may not come to fruition. He does not need to feel that kind of pain again should it fail." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, smirking at her thoroughly confused look.

"As far as anyone will know, I have merely acted within my rights to lock up trespassers. If, say, they were to find keys available, as my jailer will no doubt be drunk - again - for the feast of starlight, that could not be as a result of my actions. Or, perhaps, the barrels and lever in the cellar that lead to the river, which might allow them to escape to Lake-town. It would certainly be a shame if they were to escape."

"Yes, it certainly would," Elena murmured, finally starting to catch on. "After all, can't have word getting out that the Elvenking's acting strange and letting dwarves go, and all that. It'd cause too many questions."

"Questions that should not be answered at this point in time," Thranduil agreed. "For the time being, I cannot act in a way that suggests I know of what is to come." His eyes softened. "But come. I know that the spider venom is still bothering you. I will call Tauriel, and have her take you by the medical wards. The healer can treat you there, which should relieve your symptoms." He smirked wickedly. "And the delay in your return will only serve to agitate the dwarves, and thus further convince them of my wickedness."

She snorted and shook her head. "I'd be very grateful to you. And I don't know if it means anything to you, but the dwarves don't think you're wicked, exactly. They think you're an oathbreaker, but not cruel. They didn't believe you'd harm me."

Thranduil nodded, his face stony. "I expected as much." He sighed, looking down at the picture in his hands. "The reason I led my army away the day Smaug attacked was because we had already suffered under a recent onslaught of spider attacks, and were still grieving the loss of my queen. Had we tried to take on a fire-drake that had already roosted in the mountain, there would have been insurmountable losses, and we would not have been able to protect our own people, let alone theirs. As it is, the border of our realm has decreased, and we struggle to maintain what we have now. I will not march my people to certain death, though I regret the lives lost."

Elena nodded solemnly. "I can understand that. Your people come first." She shook herself slightly. "Anyways. I should probably get going. I'm sure you're going to be busy subtly preparing?"

He inclined his head. "Perhaps. But before you go, _Lady_ ," he said with emphasis on the last word, "If we are to be spending time together in the future, should I not know your name?"

She grinned, feeling far less afraid of him then when she first walked through the door. "I don't know, _King_ ," she retorted. "You never told me yours, either."

She smiled at him, feeling more light-hearted than she had in months at the possibility of seeing her mother again soon. "My name's Elena. Oh, and if we're going to be spending time together in the future... Maybe mention to your son that he shouldn't insult people's children just because they're dwarves. Either that, or he needs some serious lessons in telling the difference between orcs and dwarves. I mean, why on earth would a dwarf be carrying around two pictures of 'goblin mutants,' as opposed to his wife and son?"

He smirked one last time before his cold mask slipped on his face again, and he called gracefully for Tauriel. She entered, casting a curious look at Elena, who hastily schooled her features into a blank, if polite, look.

"Lady Elena still suffers from the spider's venom. Take her to the medical ward and have her treated before returning her to her cell. And send my son to me," Thranduil ordered. "It appears that I need to have a word with him regarding his ability to distinguish between the races of Middle Earth."

He waited until they were almost to the door before calling out once more. "And Tauriel, it has come to my attention that there are three more dwarves who became separated from their group. Send out a search party as soon as possible. They are all young in that group, and I do not wish them to come to harm. One of them is the lady's sister."

"Yes, my king," Tauriel agreed, inclining her head in a bow before ushering Elena out, who was having trouble schooling her features. She took Elena to the medical ward, where she was examined - and found to have no lasting damage from the spider's bite, aside from a small wound in the back of her shoulder that they told her would likely scar.

It was quickly treated to prevent infection, since she seemed to be reacting to the venom worse than the other dwarves, before it was wrapped, and then they gave her a mixture of some herbs for the nausea. Shortly thereafter, she was escorted back to her cell, where the dwarves all immediately began exclaiming when they saw her again.

"Elena, what happened?" Fíli demanded immediately as soon as they were alone again in the dungeon, standing at the edge of his cell and looking at her worriedly. "You were gone for so long, and there are bandages under your tunic! What did they do to you?"

"What did Thranduil want?" Thorin asked, less intense than his nephew, but still looking concerned.

Elena yawned, sinking down on her cot and enjoying the chance to sit down, closing her eyes as she leaned against the wall. "He wanted to know who I was, and what I was doing with you. I told him my name, and that you guys helped guard me, since I was a Lady. Or something like that. Then they took me to the medical ward, because I've been reacting worse to the spider bite, or something. Bandaged it up, and gave me some green stuff to drink." She yawned again. "Which I think may have had a sedative in it, because I am suddenly really sleepy."

"Elena," Óin called from his cell several yards away. "The medicine they gave you to drink - what did it taste like? This is important!"

"Hm? Oh." She searched her memory, fighting the urge to lay down and just go to sleep. "Kind of like mint mixed with lemons, I guess. Why?"

There was an audible sigh of relief. "I know that syrup. It's just a basic anti-nausea, but one of the side-effects is drowsiness. You should be fine, Elena. Just go to sleep, and the nausea should be fine by the time you wake up."

She nodded, closing her eyes before opening them again. "Oh. Dori, Thorin. And Nori and Fíli," she added belatedly, drawing their attention to her. "Before I forget, Thranduil's sending out search parties for Kíli, Celia and Ori. So hopefully they'll be found soon."

"Thank you, Lady Elena," Dori said quietly after a minute, Nori and Thorin echoing his sentiments. Fíli just sagged in relief and sat down on his cot, looking at her with a grateful smile.

She nodded, then laid down. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that, Elena?" Fíli asked, humoring her obviously sleep-filled tone.

"I think Thranduil likes me." She smirked at the bemused look on Thorin's face. "It's all in the way you insult people. You took the direct route, I was just more subtle. Apparently he admires my ability to insult people secretly and thinks I should be a diplomat."

Fíli rolled his eyes. "Only you would go in to be interrogated by the king of Mirkwood and come out with his seal of approval."

She chuckled sleepily. "I guess I'm just special." She closed her eyes after that, giving in to her sleepiness, and thus completely missing the fond smile Fíli sent her way, before his cheeks darkened and he looked away.

* * *

 **A/N: Did I lose anyone there? There was a ton of stuff covered in this chapter. To recap:**

 **Elena and Thranduil seek to outdo each other in subtle insults while not acknowledging the fact that she's his prisoner, Elena's mother is revealed to be the long-lost Queen of Mirkwood (making Legolas her step-brother? Adopted brother? Heck if I know), Thranduil knows who she is and is secretly on their side, Tauriel is confused by the Mirkwood royalty, Legolas is in trouble, and Fíli might be having some feelings of his own for a certain brunette. (Whether or not he's ready to acknowledge them or not is a whole different matter).**

 **And I'd just like to say that the bit about their mother being Thranduil's wife? That's been planned since before I even started writing this story, or roughly around the same time, for reasons which I can't say yet. The reveal taking place this chapter was a more recent idea, but I think it fits. (Hopefully you do to. :D)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, LadySilverstar2, Kaysaurus, Tibblets, YaahEh, and E for reviewing! (Also: WE'RE NOW OVER 100 REVIEWS! YES! Thank you all so much, I really do appreciate hearing from each and every one of you!)**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Dumbledore? Hmm, well, maybe. ;D Yeah, I already have the sacrifice bit all planned out... Tears may or may not be shed... And yeah, I would probably make the same choice, if I was brave enough. I hope I would be. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked this (incredibly complicated) chapter!**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and find out. I will say that there's the possibility of a sequel in the works, however. :D Thanks for the review, and I hope you liked it!**_

 _ **Kaysaurus: Aww, that's so nice! Here's an extra long chapter for you. As for escaping... well... still no sign of them yet... And really, where's Bilbo gone off to? *shrugs innocently* And as for that typo... you are absolutely correct, and I have no idea how I messed up such a well-know phrase. Ah, well. Hopefully it's fixed now. But yes, lol, they probably did just jump from one fire to the next. Thanks for reviewing! I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Tibblets: Yeah, I definitely had trouble trying to keep some of the timelines straight while I was working on this story, especially as I keep seeing different times when I go to look it up. :P At some point, when I have enough free time, I'm going to go back through and try and get my timelines straight, and fix it up. Thanks for pointing that out! :)**_

 _ **YaahEh: Maybe... :D And that does not sound fun. I've never even seen a wolf, I can't imagine being hunted by one. Ugh! I'm glad you and your friends were okay. And it's totally understandable that you wouldn't want to go sledding after that. I wouldn't! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **E: And more secrets today - although I think I revealed more secrets instead of hints in this chapter, I was actually rather forthcoming for once. :D And thanks. I hope that's a good thing. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Celia (who didn't even make an appearance this chapter) and Elena.**


	30. Chapter 30 - The Water Slide of Death

~~ Elena ~~

"I can hear your heartbeat, you know. There's no need to be quite so nervous. She'd have my head if she came back and found her adopted daughter had died from fright. And you didn't look quite so frightened the first time we met."

"Yeah, well, then I didn't know that you were married to my mother, thus creating a very strange relationship between us that I'm not willing to acknowledge quite yet. Or that your healers would drug me. You just did it to get me to keep quiet, didn't you? So that I wouldn't blab about everything we'd talked about."

An innocent look. "I don't know what you're talking about. You were given the standard tonic for all who become victims to the spiders because of your severe reaction. That it is also a sedative is merely a side effect, and was administered without my direct orders. I fully trusted you not to reveal that I was, in fact, planning on aiding you in escaping my dungeons."

A disbelieving stare, arms crossed stubbornly. "Uh-huh. I'm telling Mom that you drugged me when she gets here. And that you locked up my friends for no reason and wouldn't let us leave."

The individual seated on the throne sighed and rested his forehead on his hand, closing his eyes wearily as they once again rehashed this conversation. "I already told you why I couldn't just let you leave. The Feast of Starlight will commence on the morrow, and thus set up a feasible opportunity for you to escape without raising questions that should not yet be answered. I have already made plans that will allow you and your... hidden friend... a chance to retrieve your weapons when you do so. I trust you still do not plan on revealing who he is, quite yet?"

Elena smirked at the irritated look on Thranduil's face when he mentioned her hidden friend. "Not a chance. He could still come in handy later on. In fact, for all I know, he could be listening in on this conversation, and neither of us would know. So don't say anything you don't want him knowing," she teased.

Thranduil's face became a disapproving glare. "Do not test me, Lady Elena. Being a randir, and the _mell hên_ of my wife may grant you many liberties I would not allow others, but I will not tolerate a potential threat to my people, not matter how safe you might deem them to be."

Elena threw her hands up in the air in surrender immediately, backing off as the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. "All right, all right. Sheesh. I highly doubt that he'd be listening in on your conversations or anything, anyways. He's just looking for a way out. And the only threat he could possibly pose would most likely be either if you threatened me, or to your kitchens."

Thranduil suddenly smirked, his icy demeanor quickly fading. "Yes, I have received reports of small amounts of food vanishing from the kitchen, although it has since been attributed to someone wandering through. I trust you and your friends have been eating enough as well?"

Elena nodded, sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaning back on her hands. "They were a bit skeptical at first, wondering if it was poisoned, or something like that, but they ate it. They may be the stubbornest dwarves to walk this planet, but they eat like them, too. And before you ask, my symptoms are completely gone. Which is a relief."

Thranduil nodded. "That is... a relief to hear." He saw the surprised look on her face and chuckled. "Did you think that I would not care that you were recovering? Aside from the matter that you are our prisoner, and so under our care, you are a randir, sent by the Valar to aid us. I will not bring their wrath upon me by failing to aid you. Further, Queen Aredhel has taken you to be her kin. I would face a far worse fate by her hands should she find out I treated you unkindly." He smirked. "And besides. I rather enjoy your quick wit and lack of prejudice. It's quite refreshing."

"You know, everyone's always just accepted the fact that we'rerandir incredibly quickly," Elena mused. "Why is that? You'd think people would be more skeptical about people claiming to be from another world, and claiming to know the future."

Thranduil shook his head dismissively. "The title of randir cannot be claimed by those who have no right," he informed her. "The servants of evil are incapable of claiming a title of light, and there are those of us, such as the wizards or some of the higher elves, who have the capability of sensing the gate's magic upon you. It distinguishes you from the rest of your kin. Were someone foolish enough to impersonate a randir, they would quickly face the wrath of the Valar. They do not take such an offense lightly."

"That makes sense, I guess," Elena agreed, chewing on her lip as she thought. "If I gave a special gift to certain people to be used for good, and others began claiming it for selfish or wicked reasons, I'd be pretty mad, too."

"Indeed." Thranduil's face was solemn, but his eyes danced wickedly as he stood with a grace that Elena could never hope to achieve. "But come. It is time we return you to your friends. I am sure that they are coming up with all sorts of nefarious reasons I may have for taking you for questioning once again."

Elena grinned and got to her feet, wiping off her dusty tunic with a grimace. "Yeah, but it was kind of fun seeing their faces yesterday. Should I be all tight-lipped again? Completely unafraid? Boastful?"

Thranduil raised one robed hand and waved it gracefully in the air. "Whatever you wish. I am sure that my desires will have no bearings on your decisions. Step outside the door and Tauriel will take you back to your cell."

"I don't know about that, Your Majesty," Elena said, looking back at him with a twinkle in her eyes as she halted by the door. "Mom always told us to respect our elders. So I promise to at least consider them before dismissing them completely."

He shook his head, a small smile gracing his features for a brief moment before it faded to the cool exterior he normally displayed. "I'd forgotten what it was like to have a child around here once my son became of age. How old are you, anyways?"

Elena snorted. "Haven't you ever heard that you're not supposed to ask a lady her age? I'm... I don't know, actually. I've lived around twenty-two years, or so, but as best as we can figure out, I'm closer to around seventy-five years of age in dwarf years."

There was a quiet sound that might have been a quick intake of air, but his face remained impassive. "You are young, then. Not even of age. And your younger sister even more so. It is a heavy burden you both must bear."

Elena was quiet for a minute, before saying softly, "In our opinions, it's worth it. It's always been worth it." She leaned forward slightly, inclining her head in a quick version of a bow before slipping out of the room, where Tauriel waited patiently outside. She studied the dwarf curiously before beginning their trek back to the dungeons.

"The King seems very interested in you," she commented once they were away from the other guards, curiosity evident in her tone. She had been the one to escort Elena every time she spoke with the king, and they had spoken briefly several times while they journeyed, and were now fairly friendly acquaintances.

Elena shrugged. "I've been trying to win him over to our side."

The red-headed elleth blinked at her. "Your side?"

Elena nodded seriously. "I'm hoping to convince him to run away and join the dwarves. I thought about asking Prince Legolas, but considering the fact that I think I got him in trouble, he probably wouldn't like me."

Tauriel gave vent to a snort that was extremely unladylike. "You are... most likely not wrong. He was not particularly thrilled about the conversation he had with his father regarding his interactions with the dwarves. But I believe he is also somewhat... intrigued. Long has it been since a dwarrowdam has been seen outside of Erebor, and longer still since one has entered our halls."

She glanced down at the brunette, her eyes dancing with mischief. "Willingly or otherwise." A brief smile touched her lips. "To find one traveling in the company of Thorin Oakenshield, in the direction of Erebor, it is..." she struggled to find a word, then eventually settled for one. "Interesting."

Elena felt a grin spread across her face. "That's interesting. I wonder if he'll ever find out what's really going on."

Tauriel raised an eyebrow at her. "Indeed. I wonder the same about myself."

Elena shrugged innocently as Tauriel opened the door to the dungeons. "I guess I couldn't say. You seem like a great person. Maybe you will find out some day. Stay cool, Tauriel," she said as she walked into her cell and turned around to face her, saluting with a grin.

Tauriel raised an eyebrow at the farewell as she made sure the door was shut. "I shall endeavor to do so. Enjoy yourself until my next visit." Her tone was cool, but her eyes were bright as she smiled at Elena before striding back up the stairs, where Legolas had descended to wait for her, his face stern as he glanced past her to Elena, who waved cheekily at him before settling back to ignore him.

Fíli was standing impatiently by the door, looking worried. "Why do they keep taking you for interrogation?" he asked tensely as soon as Tauriel was gone. "They haven't taken Thorin since the first day, but they've taken you all three days we've been here."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "That may have something to do with the fact that I haven't burned all my bridges with Thranduil yet." Fíli wrinkled his nose at the unfamiliar saying, and she explained. "I haven't been explicit in my insults, and neither has he. We've basically been acting like diplomats who don't like each other, but have to keep it polite." She grinned. "That, and I suppose the fact that I've been selling you all out helps, too."

Fíli just stared at her for a minute, his eyes narrowing in concentration, and some of the jokes the others had been tossing around died as silence fell. She met his gaze with her innocent one for as long as she could hold it up before she gave in and burst out laughing, Thorin rolling his eyes as she did so.

"The looks on your faces! Yes, of course I'm planning on telling Thranduil everything. We're dwarves, and we're journeying to Erebor, and we got lost in the forest. Oh, and some of our family members are lost as well. But I'm pretty sure that he already knew that from Thorin. Quick side note, they haven't had any luck finding our siblings," she informed them, her eyes dimming for a moment as she thought of her still-missing sister. "They're still looking, but they don't even really know where to start since we don't know when we left the path."

Fíli groaned and sat down on his cot, clenching his fists in anger at the situation. "They've been missing for almost five days, now. Your sister was still asleep when we left, and who knows how much food they've got left. There should have been some sign of them, somewhere."

"Kíli's smart, and he's been trained in the making the best of a bad situation," Dwalin pointed out. "He may not show it very often, but he's got a good head on his shoulders. If they haven't wandered off the path by now, he'll keep them on it. And if Celia's awake by now, she should be able to help him, too. As for Bilbo - if there's anything I've learned on this trip, it's to not underestimate the halfling - hobbit," he corrected himself.

"And Ori's got skills of his own," Nori offered. "He just doesn't get the chance to show them very often due to _someone_ watching him like a mother hen," he added pointedly, ignoring Dori's offended huff. "We're all allowed to be worried about them. But we should also trust them to be able to fend for themselves. I'd say the bigger problem here is how are _we_ going to get out?"

"Well now, I might just be able to help with that problem," a familiar voice said. They all jumped at the unexpected noise, and looked around, but saw no sign of the previously missing hobbit. "Oh! Sorry about that." One minute, there was only empty air, and the next, Bilbo Baggins, a bit thinner than he used to be, and tired circles under his eyes, was standing right there in front of them. He stuffed something in his pocket and grinned at them. "Sorry about the wait, but I was looking for a way to escape. As it turns out, I might just have found a way."

There was a moment of startled silence, then the dwarves all began talking at once, asking Bilbo where he'd been, how he'd gotten in, how he'd managed to avoid capture, and it was all getting a bit loud until Thorin stood and abruptly shouted for silence.

"Do you want them to hear you?" he demanded, shaming them into silence before turning to the hobbit. "Bilbo, while it is a relief to see you unharmed, I must ask. How is it that you have thus escaped capture so far?"

Bilbo hemmed and hawed, fidgeting nervously with something in his pocket. Elena watched him curiously. As glad as she was to see him again, she wasn't sure what to think about the fact that the dwarves might be about to learn about the ring. Or not. It could really go either way, here.

"I may have found a magic ring on my travels," Bilbo admitted quietly at last, Thorin's eyes going wide with astonishment. "Hobbits are naturally sneaky and silent, and this enhances our abilities. It allows me to pass unseen when I wear it, but..." he frowned and stared at the ground, his eyes distant. "It tires me, and I do not like wearing it unless I have to. I don't believe that it was not created with good in mind, and I have been forced to wear it near constantly these last few days."

"But you are unharmed, correct?" Thorin demanded, brow furrowed as he scanned the hobbit, looking for signs of illness, or harm.

Bofur looked just as concerned, and Nori hid his expressions well, but there was at least a brief hint of worry - and interest at the mention of a magic ring - before he schooled his features. Elena exchanged a startled glance with Fíli, although she was sure they were both startled for different reasons, Bilbo's sudden reappearance aside.

Bilbo smiled wearily and nodded. "Well enough. It's been better now that I've discovered a possible way for us to escape. First though, is everyone here all right? I've tried to check on you as best I could, but I had to move often to dodge the guards, and I've been following Elena around more than anything."

He glanced down at her. "Speaking of that, do you happen to know why the King of the Greenwood has been speaking to you separately for the past few days? I've never been able to follow you, and his interest in you is a bit concerning, to be honest."

Elena grinned, happy to see him again, and waved a hand at him dismissively. "I've been great. Long story, I'll tell you later. Let's just say that he likes my ability to insult people politely. We hit it off, and spend most of our time together insulting each other. Although, he is, of course, duty-bound to question me about our quest. I usually just refuse to answer, or say something that doesn't actually answer the question at all."

"Ah, yes," Bilbo mused. "You and your sister used to be quite good at that, when you wished, back in the Shire." He sighed. "I don't suppose you happen to have heard anything about them?"

Elena shook her head regretfully. "Nothing. They're still looking, though. Hopefully they'll find them soon."

Bilbo raised an eyebrow. "Or not. It'd be a bit awkward if we escaped, and they got captured immediately after that."

"You keep mentioning a possible chance to escape," Thorin interjected before Elena could speak, and they could all tell he looked a bit impatient at having to wait, although he had been respectful and let him speak to Elena briefly. "But you seem uncertain of its feasibility. What is your plan?"

Bilbo sighed. "The Feast of Starlight is tomorrow, and I've overhead the jailer speaking several times with the King's butler, and I believe they plan on sampling a good deal of the wine tomorrow night. If all goes well, I should be able to put my skills to work, and relieve him of the keys to the cells. Most of the other elves should all be busy making merry at the feast, and I've discovered a way out, though it won't exactly be pleasant," he warned them.

"If it means we get out of this leaf-eater's dungeon, I'm all for it," Dwalin said gruffly. "We've been fed well enough, but if I never see green food again, it'll be too soon!"

Bilbo shrugged. "If it's any consolation, I might even be able to get ahold of your weapons again. Well, some of them, at least," he admitted. "I found the room where they placed everything they took from us, and I believe at least some of our weapons are still there." He glanced at the dwarf king. "There was no sign of Orcrist, however, Thorin. Sorry. I believe Prince Legolas acquired it once he requisitioned it from you.'

Thorin growled but shook his head. "I will recover it after we take Erebror. It would cause more trouble than it's worth to seek to take it back now. And your plan to escape - how, exactly, are we supposed to escape?"

Bilbo smiled. "How's your swimming?"

A loud clang from above made him flinch, and his fingers dove for his pocket, digging inside before he slipped something out and vanished, eliciting a startled cry from several of the dwarves. His bodiless voice hushed them before he went silent again, all of them waiting tensely as several armed guards descended with their food. One stood at the ready while the other opened their cell to hand them their food and water on the tray, before locking it securely again and moving on the next cell.

They glanced oddly at Dori, who was trying a bit too hard at acting innocent, but they spied nothing else wrong, and so let him be. Most of the others, Balin, Dwalin, Nori, and the Durins, all had at least some experience at keeping their expressions clear, and so drew no suspicions to themselves. They all waited impatiently for the elves to leave, and the moment the door shut behind the last of them, they hurried to the front of their cells again as Bilbo reappeared.

"That was fairly unpleasant," he sighed, sitting cross-legged on the ground. "It was a fair bit closer than I'd like to admit."

"By my beard, you weren't joking when you said it was a magic ring!" Bofur exclaimed, staring at the hobbit with wide eyes. "Where'd you find such a thing?"

Bilbo shrugged uncomfortably. "In the Misty Mountains, after I'd fallen. Thought it'd come in handy, and it has. It's gotten me out of more than a few tight spots while I wandered these halls, half afraid that I'd fall off one of those bridges at any minute."

"Bilbo," Elena said quietly, frowning as she watched her uncle. "How are you doing on food? I can't imagine you're able to get very much, living on the run like you are."

The hobbit wrinkled his nose. "I've been getting by, so don't worry," he assured her. "I've been able to snitch bits and pieces here and there from the kitchens, so I haven't been starving."

"No, just getting by with less food than you need," Thorin pointed out gruffly. He looked even less happy than he normally did as he gestured to the hobbit. "I am aware that you require more food than us to stay healthy, and if the belt on your waist is anything to go by, your meals have not been adequate." He sat down on the floor and shoved his tray towards the hobbit. "I have been fed more than enough, and there is enough here for us to share."

Bilbo automatically began to protest, but Thorin merely fixed him with a glare, and his protests died an immediate yet majestic death. His manners and upbringing kept him from snatching at the food offered to him immediately, but the way he nearly inhaled the bread and salad offered to him showed his hunger. His grateful smile immediately had Bofur offering half his food as well, while Óin demanded he come over for a check up as soon as he was done eating.

They spent the rest of the day formulating their plan and slowly feeding Bilbo their food, Nori and Dori sacrificing some of their meals as well and ignoring his protests. They were all feeling more light-hearted than they had been all week with the news of Bilbo's safety and escape plan, and a few jokes and tall tales were even tossed around.

They were further cheered when Elena recalled that their missing friends had all been wearing athelas, which, due to its assumed ability to wear down the river's enchantment, most likely had been able to at least partially protect them from the forest's enchantment itself.

"If it was able to help them, they probably stayed on the paths, and should end up in Lake-town, same as us," she declared, refusing to believe any other possibility. "In fact, they might even end up there before us, depending on where we were in the forest when we wandered off, and how long it takes them to travel."

Bilbo nodded. "Kíli will know to keep heading for Lake-town, on the off chance they're able to reunite with us, and Celia will hopefully be awake by now. If she is, she'll know to keep going to Lake-town as well. It's where we were planning on going after we got through the forest, so hopefully we'll be able to reunite there."

There was mumbled agreement from all of them before Bofur decided to regale them with the tale of the runaway prince, who eventually returned home, and lived happily ever after with his family, where his beard grew past his knees. It had gotten a few scoffs, but it had kept the mood light.

The next day, Thranduil had once again taken Elena for a meeting, though he merely warned her that that night would be their one chance at escape. He would ensure the jailer had access to plenty of alcohol, and handed her a small key with which she could escape her own cell should Bilbo fail to acquire the jailer's set, while he gave her directions to both the wine cellar, and the room where their belongings were held. He did tell her that she would most likely have to escape through the cellar into the river, and seek to make it to land from there, and warned her about the tracks of orcs and spiders that had been seen.

She nodded, then got to her feet and bowed. "If we never meet again, King Thranduil, know that it was a pleasure to do so, even if I am the only dwarf to say so."

He smirked. "Certainly you are the first to be a prisoner in my halls when you said so. But do be careful. Aredhel is likely to return soon, though I do not know when, and I believe she would like to see you when she does so." He surprised her by inclining his head in a bow. "May the Valar bless you on your journey, and may your path be bright. Until we meet again, Lady Elena, farewell."

She smiled, though something in her heart twinged at the last words. Should she meet Thranduil again, it would most likely be under far less positive circumstances. And they both knew it. Still, she returned the farewell, and slipped out of the room silently, Tauriel taking note of her pensive expression and keeping quiet as she returned her to her cell, where they all waited anxiously for nightfall.

But the only sign of Bilbo was him warning them that escape wouldn't be possible quite yet. Then, he'd vanished, leaving them alone to fret, while Elena fingered her key anxiously. Eventually, she laid down to go to sleep, electing to regain her energy while she had the chance, and managed to sleep for several hours before Fíli called softly to wake her up, having taken the same opportunity she had.

"I'll wager the sun's on the rise. It must be nearly dawn," Bofur said at last.

"We're never going to reach the mountain in time, are we?" Dori moaned in despair.

Bilbo suddenly appeared, a ring of keys held proudly aloft in his hand. "Not stuck in here you're not!" he announced. They all leapt to their feet, shouting excitedly before Bilbo shushed them. "There are guards nearby! It's part of what took me so long," he explained, unlocking Thorin's cell first and letting them out, one by one, though he made sure to give Elena a hug before he moved on to the next cell.

Dwalin chuckled gleefully, heading for the stairs. "The stairs!"

Bilbo shook his head immediately. "Not that way! Down here. There's another exit, they just never took you through that way. Follow me," he directed.

The dwarves glanced at each other, but Thorin shrugged and followed him, so they all did the same. They crept through the halls of the Woodland Realm, sneaking past all the guards, and waiting nervously while Bilbo snuck off, reappearing moments later with a stack of weapons.

"This was as much as I could grab before a guard noticed the open door and locked it. Elena, Glóin, Dwalin, your axes are in here, and I've got some of your knives, Fíli, but I'm almost certain that I haven't recovered all of them. Nori, I've got some of your weapons here as well, I'm sure."

There was a general chorus of approval for Bilbo before he shushed them once again, this time leading them down the wine cellar, past a table where two elves lay in a drunken slumber. Bilbo crept into the room, silently depositing his ring of keys back onto the belt of the jailer, while Elena followed after him, placing her key on the table before quickly rejoining the others. They stopped in a large room filled with empty wine barrels stacked sideways in the middle of the room, their lids stacked neatly off to the side.

"Everyone, climb into the barrels, quickly!" Bilbo ordered in a low voice.

"Are you mad?" Dwalin hissed. "They'll find us!"

Elena huffed, picking a barrel and clambering into it, glaring at them when they stared at her. "What? He's the one who got us out of those cells, and I'm sure he wouldn't just lead us down here without a plan. If any of you fancy going back in, just close the door when you leave so it doesn't lead back to us."

Fíli seemed to struggle with himself for a minute before giving in and crawling into a barrel next to her. "I've learned it's best not to argue in situations like these," he offered.

The others didn't seem quite so convinced, but a sudden commotion from above made up Thorin's mind. "All of you, into the barrels!" he snapped. They didn't seem any more convinced that Bilbo was sane, but a minute later, all of the dwarves were in the barrels, while Bilbo walked along and made sure they were all there.

"What do we do now?" Bofur asked, sticking his head out of his barrel.

"Hold your breath," Bilbo informed him.

Bofur frowned. "Hold my breath? What do you mean, hold my breath?"

Bilbo only grinned wolfishly in response, his Tookish side on full display as he pushed down the lever at the back of all the barrels. The floor they were on tilted and revealed a river beneath, eliciting startled yells as the dwarves and barrels crashed into the water, before the floor now above them shut again.

Elena chuckled, using her hands to stay in position while they waited for the hobbit. "How long do you think it'll take him to realize that he didn't come down with us?"

Apparently not long, as a moment later, he came shooting through with a cry, landing with a splash in the river before Nori hauled him up, where he clung to Nori's barrel for dear life.

"Well done, Mister Baggins," Thorin praised him.

Bilbo waved his hand in thanks, still spluttering for air. "We can go."

Thorin nodded. "Let's move out." With Bilbo still hanging onto Nori's barrel, the Company began to paddle with their hands, speeding their progress along the river out of the cavern and into the bright sunlight, revealing a waterfall in front of them. "Hold on!" Thorin shouted in warning as they plunged down the waterfall and over the rapids, where the current began to swiftly carry them down the river.

It was thrilling, for a moment. Being outside, with the sun beaming down on them after being locked up for so long, and riding the rapids like an amusement park ride without any seat-belts. Then an elvish horn sounded harshly, reminding them all that they were still in the middle of escaping.

Elena looked ahead of them to see a large bridge built across the river, with two guards standing at attention above it. One of them, as soon as he heard the horn, leapt to the middle and pulled a lever, bringing a sluice down the bridge and blocking their path to freedom.

"No!" Thorin shouted as his barrel slammed into the barricade, the others quickly following as elves began pouring from the woods onto the riverside surrounding them. But that wasn't the worst of it.

That came a moment later, when the elf pointing his sword at them suddenly fell over, a black arrow piercing his back.

"The orcs," Elena breathed in a horrified whisper. "I forgot about the orcs." She glanced up at the lever above them. It being pulled was their only chance at survival, but with the number of orcs swarming over it, and out of the bushes, it was likely that it would only be pulled at great risk.

She stared at it a moment, glancing over at Fíli, who was currently stabbing an orc that had leapt on his barrel, then back at the lever. Last time, Kíli had done it - and been shot with a poisoned arrow for his trouble. But he wasn't here, and all the others were busy defending themselves from the orcs.

She ducked as an orc came too close, then grit her teeth and pulled out one of her axes, hacking at it and grimacing as some of its blood landed on her face. Sheathing her axe temporarily, she clambered out of her barrel and onto the bridge, unsheathing her axes as an orc at the top growled at her. Dodging its first blow, she struck out with her axes and managed to score a glancing blow on its left arm, making it screech in pain before redoubling its efforts.

She heard a whistling sound behind her, and swung viciously at the orc, causing it to back off a few steps before she swung around to see an orc fall to the ground, one of Fíli's knives in its head, and a spear in its hand.

She nodded in thanks to him, but he just scowled at her, clearly not happy about her brilliant idea to go for the lever, before reluctantly refocusing his attention on another orc. She turned back to her own enemy, throwing her head backwards as a knife whistled over it before snapping back upright and slicing at its chest, causing it to stagger.

She cried out as it managed to score a gash of its own on her arm, but took the opportunity of it coming closer and swung upwards with her axe as she fell backwards. She hit the ground with a grunt, it falling on top of her with her axe embedded in its jaw. She pushed it off of her, then scrambled to her feet, eyes on the vital lever.

"Elena!" She spun around at Fíli's shout, and saw Bolg, arrow aimed right at her.

And she froze. She couldn't help but watch as the arrow shot directly towards her chest, heard Bilbo and Fíli shout her name. But then she snapped out of it and turned around, knowing that her back presented just as much of a target as her chest did. But if she didn't pull that lever, then the dwarves would die here, and Middle Earth would fall.

She lunged for it - and missed - right as the arrow sliced through her arm.

The burning started small, then turned into a raging fire of pain as it began to spread. She dropped to her knees, hearing Fíli's cry of denial and Bilbo's shout of rage, fearing the worst. She heard Dwalin shout her name angrily, felt the cool stone of the bridge beneath her hands as she struggled beneath that burning. But underneath it all, she knew. The lever had not been pulled. Her friends, her family, were still in danger.

So she struggled onto her hands and knees, gasping for breath as her arm _burned_ as she placed weight on it. But she fought the temptation to give up, placed hands slick with blood around the lever, and pulled it with all her might before falling back to the ground in exhaustion, content in the knowledge that she had succeeded.

* * *

 **A/N: My heart and prayers go out to the victims of the tragedy in Florida last week. It's heartbreaking that such things still happen, but hopefully we can prevent such things from happening again.**

 **No, I didn't kill Elena off. I thought about it, but I promised that no one would die until somewhere around Erebor/Lake-town. So, she'll still be around next chapter. :)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, MissCallaLilly, Tibblets, RedBear5, ColdOne Paul, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing! (Also, apologies if I happen to miss your review. For some reason, I have not been getting all of my notifications lately, so I've been utilizing all my resources to try and mention everyone.)**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Thanks. :) That's something I planned with a friend way back when, and I always hoped it would go over well. And no Celia/Thranduil talks yet. The prodigal children have yet to be found. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **MissCallaLilly: Oh yes, I'm the master of subtlety... *I say loudly, because most of the time, I have all the subtlety of a brick* Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!**_

 _ **Tibblets: Indeed. That's actually a really good point. Maybe he was just being nice when he let Thorin have it? He's pretty much the most hospitable guy in Middle Earth.**_

 _ **RedBear5: Looking back over that chapter, I can kind of see what you mean. I meant for it to be somewhat different, to represent that Celia's outlook was all skewed due to her grief. Sometimes the way she saw things was disjointed, other times, it all came at once. I meant for it to represent that she was in shock, but not to confuse people. Sorry about that. :/ I'll try and clear it up a bit when I get the chance. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: I'm glad to hear you liked it! :) I thought about making Thranduil a jerk, but considering that his wife raised Elena, it would have made things awkward for one, and for another, I didn't really want to deal with making him the awful, racist jerk that he is in some stories (that have been very well written, it just didn't fit with what I had planned for this one). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: I see you got some of my subtle hints. Kudos to you for getting so close, as I'm pretty sure that my hints are awful at actually revealing anything. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked this chapter, as there may or may not be a reunion next chapter. :)**_

 _ **E: Well, I'm glad to know I was able to surprise you! (That was definitely one of the biggest secrets to be revealed.) And sometimes, we all need a cheeky person to bring out our softer side. XD I'm quite used to being sarcastic, lol, so I just drew on that. Thanks for reviewing! I hope you liked it. :D**_

 **Mell hên : Beloved child**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Celia and Elena.**


	31. Chapter 31 - Family Reunion

~~ Celia ~~

When they woke up that morning by the river, it was to a cloudy sky that hinted at fog later on. It wasn't overly bright and cheery, and there were no rainbows in the sky, but even the patches of blue that peeped through were enough to lift their spirits after so long without seeing anything but gloomy trees, and the warmth was pleasant after the oppressively dank air of Mirkwood.

"At least it's not raining," Ori declared, stretching before pulling out their meager stores of food. "And if we're careful to ration it, we might be able to make this last until we reach Lake-town."

"And, maybe now that we're out of the forest, we'll be able to get something fresh to eat, whether it's fish, or some non-poisoned greens," Celia pointed out, taking her bit of salted meat with a grimace. "I mean, I know you guys aren't big on things like salad, but surely even you have to admit that it'd be nice to have a change to our usual fare."

Kíli nodded, quickly downing his own portions before drinking from his water-skin. "Just because we can survive on salted meat for long periods of time doesn't mean that we actually enjoy them for that whole period of time. I'll see if I can put together some sort of fishing rod, maybe we can have some fresh food tonight."

"What's that saying? Hunger is the best sauce, or something like that?" Celia mused, finishing the last bite before wiping her fingers off on her tunic. "I mean, I guess it worked for a while, but even the best seasonings can go bland after a while. I am _more_ than ready for something fresh. But speaking of seasoning, I think we all need to take a dunk in the river."

"What does seasoning have to do with it?" Kíli asked quizzically, tilting his head to the side.

She grinned. "I mean, none of us have really had the chance to bathe since..." She trailed off, counting backwards in her head. "I think it was before we even reached Beorn's house. We stopped by that river after leaving the Carrock, and all got cleaned up there. Anyway, I'm saying we should all probably take this chance to at least get wet and try to rinse out our clothes. I don't even want to know how greasy my hair looks right now."

"At least it looks natural?" Kíli tried.

Ori shook his head. "It's a natural look on _you_ , Kíli. But Celia tends to be a bit better at maintaining her appearance."

Celia hid her grin behind her hand as Kíli shot an outraged look at the third member of their group. He seemed to have lost most of his shyness once they were in a smaller group, and was revealing a delightfully sarcastic sense of humor.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ori. We all know Kíli's the most vain one of us all. He positively spends hours combing his luxurious hair. He's probably the most relieved of all of us to see that river!"

"I may be thrilled to see that river, my lady," Kíli snarked, getting to his feet with a threatening air that had Celia getting to her own warily. "But never let it be said that I'm not a gentleman who refuses to let ladies go first!"

Celia darted backwards with a scream as he suddenly lunged for her with the very clear intent to dunk her in the water. "Just because I said I thought we should all go for a swim didn't mean I wanted to be thrown in! That water looks very cold, and I really think that you should go first to test it out," she called over her shoulder as she ran around the clearing, looking for a place to hide.

"I would never deprive you of the chance to go first!" he refuted, gaining on her.

Putting on a burst of speed, she darted behind Ori and peeked over his shoulder, Kíli skidding to a stop in front of them with his eyes narrowed. "Ori! Save me!" she begged.

His shoulders shaking with laughter, the dwarf seemed to think about it for a minute before shaking his head and stepping to the side. Celia barely had time to shoot him a dirty look before Kíli had scooped her up and was heading for the river.

"Ori! You traitor!" she growled, struggling wildly in Kíli's hold - to no avail.

"He's my prince. It's best if I don't get on his bad side," he called back. "I'm sure you understand. It's simply survival."

Kíli threw his head back and laughed. "Yes, because I clearly have so much power out here in the middle of the wilderness, and I'll use it if I have to." He stopped by the edge of the river to pull off his boots and socks with one hand, keeping her captive with the other.

Celia's eyes widened at the sight of the river growing closer - and looking colder the closer it got. "Kíli, I changed my mind, we don't all need to get wet, it's just you, please don't dunk me" she whined, renewing her struggles to get free.

"Nope, you said we all needed to be clean, and in the interest of providing as much comfort as I can to the entire group - as I am the leader - that means all of us. Including you," Kíli informed her smugly, striding to stand knee deep in the flowing waters. He shivered. "Wow. Your guess was right, Celia. These waters are really cold."

He grinned at the look on her face. "But that just means it'll make us cleaner, right? I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere. Regardless, I'm afraid, my lady, that this is where your trip ends. One way or another, you're going in."

Celia scowled at him. "Fine. But at least let me take my boots off first. The day may be warm, but I have no wish to spend the rest of the day walking in wet boots and getting blisters."

Kíli pretended to think about it for a moment before agreeing. "You make a fair point."

"Why, thank you," Celia sassed, wriggling in his arms until she was in position to take off her boots and socks. Stuffing her socks inside her boots, she carefully aimed over his shoulder and chucked her boots at Ori, shouting triumphantly when one of them hit him in the shoulder. "Serves you right for selling me out," she snarked when he glared at her.

She turned back to Kíli. "Are you still determined to drop me?"

He looked offended at the notion. "I would never drop you! I may, however, throw you in."

She frowned, trying to come up with a plan of attack, before simply wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tight. "There. Now if I'm going down, you're coming down with me!"

He shrugged, seemingly unperturbed. "I can work with that."

Wading out until the water was waist deep - making Celia flinch away as the cold waves lapped up against her back, splashing her tunic - he flopped into the water, sending both of them under. Celia gasped reflexively as the water soaked her, only remembering to hold her breath after she swallowed some water. Releasing her hold on Kíli's neck, she shot for the surface, coughing to clear the river water from her lungs.

Finally catching her breath, she swiped the loose hair out of her face and glared as Kíli surged upwards beside her, grinning unrepentantly. "I hate you," she deadpanned.

He shook his head, sending water droplets flying everywhere as his hair flew every which way before plastering itself to his face. "Now that's not a very nice thing to say," he pouted, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "Considering that you were the one to say we needed it, and all."

Celia pursed her lips. "I'll forgive you on one condition."

"Name it," he challenged, a daring glint in his eyes as he grinned mischievously at her.

"Help me take down Ori as revenge for failing to help me," she said quietly, already wading for shore, where Ori was waiting for them expectantly, clearly laughing at them both.

Kíli nodded. "Consider it done." He began splashing towards shore, his thoroughly soaked tunic hanging off his arms as he made his way through the water. "Ori! You're up next!" he shouted.

The red-haired dwarf backed up from the water's edge, already taking off his mittens, boots and socks in preparation for the water. "If I'm going in, I'm going in on my own terms!" he declared.

Calculating the distance, he backed up a bit further then took a running leap into the water, splashing both of them before popping up with a shiver, wrapping his arms around himself for warmth. "Oh, this is chilly. Perhaps I didn't think this through enough."

Celia chuckled, rubbing her arms with her hands. "It's certainly... cold," she agreed with chattering teeth. "But it'll help us wake up, and it's warm enough that the sun should dry our clothes fairly quickly. Plus, you can't tell me that we didn't all need a bath."

"I can't say you're wrong, more that we just reached the point where we all became so used to it we could no longer smell it," Ori pointed out.

"At least the water seems to get less cold if you keep moving around in it," Kíli offered, swimming around a bit. "It'll both warm us up, and help wash us off. I think we've reached the edge of Mirkwood, so it should be all right if we stay here for a bit. Then we'll need to take a look from there about reaching Lake-town. If I recall correctly, it's another day's walk from here."

Celia groaned, floating on her back on the water, grateful that she was gradually growing used to the temperature of the water. "Yay. More walking. So much fun." She spluttered briefly as she sank under the water before making her way back to the surface, this time standing on her own two feet. "Did I ever mention how hard it is to float when you're weighted down by your clothes? It was so much easier when I had a swimming suit."

"I'm guessing that's what it sounds like?" Kíli questioned, trying to sneak up on Ori without looking like he was doing so, while Ori swam steadily away from him.

Celia nodded. "An outfit made for swimming. It's designed to be thin and waterproof, so that way it doesn't become heavy and waterlogged." She pulled her ponytail out of her hair and ran her fingers through it, wincing at the tangles. "Hey Kíli, if I take out my family braid, can you or Ori put it back in? I don't think I can replicate it without a mirror, or something like that, and while it's still in pretty decent shape, I'm pretty sure that it really needs to be redone."

Kíli froze in the middle of dunking Ori, both him and the scribe turning bright red despite the chilly water conditions. "Uh..."

"What? Did I say something wrong? I didn't like, propose to both of you at the same time, or something, did I?" Celia asked worriedly, gaze flickering between the two of them.

"No," Kíli said slowly, drawing out the word without meeting her eyes. "But uh, um." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Ori? Could you help me out here?"

Ori chuckled, the blush already fading from his cheeks. "Braiding is typically something done by either your family, your spouse, or, in your case, someone who would be your guardian. That's why Thorin braided your hair. In the absence of your family members, and as the leader of your clan, he'd be the one to do it in their stead."

Celia groaned and buried her head in her hands, feeling her cheeks heat up. "So I didn't propose to you, I just basically declared you both to be either my spouse or my king. Never mind, I basically proposed."

She scrubbed her hands down her face and sighed. "Okay guys, don't mind me, I'm going to just go and drown myself over here, save us all the trouble. It was nice knowing you." She took a deep breath and dropped under the water, taking the opportunity to scrub her hair, trying to clean it as much as possible.

A hand reached down a moment later and grasped her shoulder, pulling her up to reveal a laughing Kíli. "You know, it really wasn't that big of a deal," he told her. "It was an honest mistake."

"At least you didn't accidentally propose to Thorin," Ori pointed out. "It really could be worse."

"No, I just proposed to two of my friends and now they won't let me drown myself, that's all," she groused.

Ori opened his mouth to speak, then paused, tilting his head to the side as he narrowed his eyes in concentration. "Do you hear that?" he whispered.

Kíli frowned, all three of them stilling as they tried to listen. At first, all they could hear was the splashing of the water. Then, she heard it. Quiet, and she almost missed it. But she heard it. A shout. Then another, growing closer.

"Someone's coming!" Kíli hissed. "Get out of the water!" he ordered, shoving Celia towards shore.

Celia scrambled out of the water, snatching up her boots and bee-lining for her pack, slinging her quiver onto her back and arming her bow. Kíli urged them all behind some bushes, his own bow in hand.

Ori darted out at the last minute and grabbed their packs, removing all traces of their presence aside from their wet footprints on the rock, although enough water had been splashed that it didn't lead directly to them.

Dropping the packs on the ground, Ori drew his knife and stood beside them resolutely. They all tensed as they heard another shout from the direction of the river, this time definitely coming closer.

A loud splashing sound echoed, followed by a shout of laughter, making them look at each other strangely. Celia, however, felt a smile start to spread across her face. That laugh sounded familiar. Add in a river at the end of Mirkwood, and she was fairly confident about her conclusion.

Relaxing her bow, she released her arrow and put it back in her quiver. "Celia, what are you doing?" Kíli started to whisper, but she cut him off with a wave and a grin.

"Hold on just a sec. If I'm right, and I think I am, you're gonna like this." She turned her attention back to the river and, after a moment of indecision, Kíli relaxed his bow as well.

Then a breath of air left his mouth in a shocked laugh as a number of barrels came around the bend of the river, slowing to a stop in the middle of the river, thirteen of them filled with some very looking familiar faces.

"Anything behind us?" Thorin called from his barrel, thoroughly soaked.

"Not that I can see," Balin answered, turning around in his barrel as best as he could.

"I think we've outrun the orcs," Bofur managed, his hat looking all limp and droopy as he hung over the edge of his barrel, ever so slightly green.

"Not for long; we've lost the current," Thorin grumbled.

"Bofur is half drowned, and Elena will need Óin to take a look at her arm," Dwalin interjected. "We need to rest."

Celia frowned, craning her neck to try and see her sister, finally able to spot her hanging limply on her barrel, resting her head weakly on one arm, the other hanging limply over the side.

"Make for the shore! Come on, let's go!" Thorin ordered, using his hands as best as he could to paddle for the shore, everyone following his lead.

Kíli seemed to overcome his shock and stepped out from behind the bush, dropping his bow to the ground. "You could just walk in, you know. It's not that deep if you make your way over to this side of the rock," he called, gesturing to a large slab of rock jutting out into the river.

There was a sudden pause as everyone stopped paddling for a minute, just staring at him in shock. "What? No reason to look so surprised. I always look this good," he said cheekily, striking a pose.

"Kíli? You're all right?" Kíli's gaze slid over the dwarves - and hobbit - until he found the speaker. He beamed as he saw his brother, soaking wet, but apparently unharmed.

"We're fine. But you're all here? You're all safe?" he asked, scrutinizing his uncle and brother carefully as they pulled their way to shore.

Fíli nodded, crawling out of the barrel onto the rocks and turning around to help Elena up. "We're all here."

Elena smiled at him gratefully, but it seemed a bit wan. She turned to Kíli, clenching one fist, the other hanging limply at her side. "You said 'we'. Are the others here?" she asked quietly, eyes scanning the vegetation behind him.

"Yeah, we're here, sorry," Celia called, darting out from behind the bush, Ori close behind her. "I was trying to take my quiver off, and it somehow got stuck in my hair and a bush. Ori had to help me out."

She ran up to her sister, noticing Bilbo clambering to his feet and trying to squeeze the water out of his coat but focusing on Elena. She skidded to a stop just short of her, scanning her quickly and noticing with concern the red-stained cloth wrapped roughly around her upper left arm and her sister's pallor.

"Are you hurt?" she blurted immediately.

"It's a flesh wound," Elena teased, her voice strangely husky. "But I'm more interested in getting a hug after not knowing where my sister was, or if she was alive or dead for the past week or so."

"Sorry," Celia apologized, throwing her arms around her sister, feeling her sister's arms wrap around her in return. "If it helps, we've been wondering the same things about you." She buried her head in her sister's neck, smiling when she saw Thorin and Fíli embracing Kíli, and Ori being smothered by his brothers. She raised her head up and saw Bilbo standing off to the side, smiling at them, and extended a hand to him. "Come on, then. You're part of this family too, ya know. I was worried about you, too."

He chuckled, stepping forward and joining the wet embrace. "I know you were. You worried about me when I went out for a walk without telling you back in the Shire. You're just a worrier. I'm glad to see you're all right - and awake," he said at last, stepping back and scanning her up and down. "There weren't any side effects from the river?"

Celia shook her head. "According to Kíli and Ori, I was asleep for roughly six days. They think I slept for so long because I was fully doused, whereas Elena only got a little bit wet. And speaking of my twin," she released her and gently grabbed her arm, though she made sure to avoid the wound. "How did this happen?" she demanded. "And when? And who do I need to kill?"

"Uh, during the escape attempt, orcs attacked, earlier this morning, and I think it was Bolg," Elena answered, rolling her eyes. "It doesn't hurt that bad, just when you - ouch! - touch it." The last words were spoken with a glare.

"Sorry." Celia was anything but apologetic as she slowly unwrapped the cloth. Elena's arm had a long, weeping graze on the outer side of her arm, with redness and swelling surrounding it. It was deep enough that there was fresh blood visible as she examined it, but not so deep that it would be a cause for immediate alarm. "What did this?"

"An arrow." Fíli's deep voice made them both look up as he joined them, followed by his brother. He looked very displeased as he scowled at Elena, but she just wrinkled her nose at him. "We used the barrels they normally send to Lake-town to escape after Bilbo managed to free us, and were in our barrels and floating down the river when the elves noticed our escape attempt. They had just shut this sluice that trapped us against it when the orcs attacked. Some of us had weapons, but we were basically trapped in our barrels. And Elena, here," he gestured at her sister.

"Well, she decided it would be a good idea to leap up and onto the bridge over the river in an insane attempt to release the sluice. But since it was a fairly noticeable position, it meant that so was she. She had almost reached the lever when -"

"Elena, no! Tell me you didn't -" Celia cut herself off, looking at her twin with wide, frightened eyes, all the color gone from her face. Elena looked at the ground then up at her sister, grinning sheepishly with no actual humor. "Elena!" Celia gasped. "That arrow! If it was the same one -"

"I know," Elena cut her off. "But I was aware of the risks, and someone had to do it. And I'm not entirely sure that it was."

"Was what?" Kíli asked, frowning at her. His eyes kept flickering from the two of them to her wound, while Bilbo was standing off to the side, his arms crossed with worry.

Celia swallowed hard. "You guys all know by this point that we know stuff. That arrow? It originally hit someone else. And it was, um... poisoned."

They all reacted with horror, drawing back and staring at the two of them in shock. "What?" Fíli demanded instantly. "But then, what, what, what are we supposed to do?"

Elena shook her head, eyes on her sister. "That was in one version of the original timeline. It never happened in the other, and he survived it then anyways!"

"Yeah, well you're not him! And clearly, we're not following that other timeline right now! And it wasn't him because he wasn't there!" Celia retorted harshly, trying to keep her voice low.

"Things have changed just by our being here, Cel," Elena pointed out calmly. "It might not have been poisoned. I'm still standing, I don't feel sick, and I get the feeling that it wasn't poisoned. Just put some athelas on it, that should help draw out the poison, _if_ there was any in the first place," she said, stressing the _if_.

Celia shook her head, angry at herself for not doing that before. "Right. Sorry. Has Óin had the chance to look at it at all?"

"No, Fíli just used a bit of cloth to wrap it up as best as we could," Elena told her. "And I think everything is wet. Will that affect it?"

Celia bit her lip. "I don't know. But we still have the athelas that we used. We wore it because it seemed to help ward off the effect of the forest. That should be dry, we left it on our bedspreads when we got up this morning."

"Yeah, about that... why were you guys wet when we showed up?" Elena asked, eyeing them strangely. "And what's up with your hair, Celia?"

"Hang on, I'll tell you in a minute," Celia said, darting back to their packs and gathering the athelas they had used, consulting with Óin briefly - who was wrapping a wound that Glóin had received - before returning to her sister, a bowl and pestle in hand. She gave Fíli the athelas and the pestle, asking him to crush it into a paste while she prepared a bandage and examined the wound more thoroughly.

It seemed clean, and there were no signs of infection as of yet, so she cleaned it as best as she could before spreading the paste over her sister's wound, apologizing every time she winced. Finally finished, she wrapped the bandage loosely over it.

"I'll ask Óin to look it over more thoroughly once he's done with Glóin. But I heard Thorin talking to Dwalin, and I think they want to get moving," she said softly. "I'll try and find something to give you for the pain later."

Elena shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Good. Because we need to go," Thorin commanded, making them all jump.

"I can look it over real quick," Óin offered. "I've treated my moron of a brother - yes, you, who else would I be referring to? - and I can look at Elena's arm."

Thorin shook his head immediately. "There's an orc pack on our tail, and Celia's already treated the wound. We keep moving."

"To where?" Balin objected, staring out at the water.

"To the mountain. We're so close," Bilbo returned.

"A lake lies between us and that mountain. We've no way to cross it," Balin pointed out reasonably.

Bilbo shrugged. "So then we go around. After Elena's been checked out."

"The orcs will run us down, sure as daylight. We don't have enough weapons to defend ourselves."

"At least let me bind her arm," Óin objected. "We'll be even less able to defend ourselves if she's bleeding out, or it gets infected."

Thorin scowled more harshly than usual. "You have two minutes," he growled, turning away to talk to Balin.

Óin hastily made his way over to them, carefully lifting Elena's arm and looking over the wound, nodding approvingly. "It doesn't look infected, and the paste was made correctly. I'll just wrap it up. Your sister should be fine, lass."

Celia let out a sigh of relief, but Elena merely looked up at her sister, taking her hand and squeezing it in an attempt to deal with the pain as Óin applied pressure with the bandage. "Care to tell me why you guys were all wet when we got here?" she asked, voice strained. "I thought we were the ones who went for a swim."

Kíli snorted. "Celia told us we all needed to take a bath this morning."

"No, I said you needed to take one," Celia corrected him.

"You said all of us!" Kíli protested.

Celia just shook her head. "And then I changed my mind, and said just you. And then you," she pointed a finger at him grumpily. "Said that ladies should go first and threw me in the river."

"You say that like you didn't hold onto my neck and drag me down with you," Kíli objected.

Elena exchanged a glance with Fíli before laughing, though it faltered when Óin tied off the bandage. "Did you do something to get back at him for such a heinous crime?"

Celia shrugged. "I don't know. Does accidentally proposing to both him and Ori count?"

Elena blinked at her. Fíli's mouth opened, then closed again. Óin did a double take, and Bilbo furrowed his brow in confusion.

Kíli just chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't know why you're so surprised. It's not like it's the first time."

* * *

 **A/N: Basically a fluffy chapter. Yes, Celia got mad at her sister for jumping in front of an arrow but got over it really quickly, and no, she's not actually over it. She just stopped discussing it because it wasn't the time. It will be brought up at a later date, with lots of passive-aggressive pettiness. :D**

 **Also, no comment yet as to whether or not it's actually poisoned. :D**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, MissCallaLilly, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing! (I think the problem with not getting notifications has been fixed? If I've missed someone, please let me know, and I'll try to fix it!)**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: No dying for Elena here... (I make no promises for the potential sequel!) And yes, neither Fíli nor Celia are very pleased with her. Cue unreasonable grumpiness to follow. And long talks about impulsive behavior. Thanks for your review! I hope you liked it. :D**_

 _ **MissCallaLilly: Yep! Thorin cut it short, unfortunately, sounding even more grumpy than usual... wonder why... :D It's not like he's close to an object of great evil, while simultaneously growing closer to the gold of Erebor... Thanks for your review! Hope you liked it. :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: No big fight, and no big injury after all, but Celia was not impressed. There was hugs, however, and even, technically, a proposal (or two). That counts as fluff, right? :D Hope you liked it!**_

 _ **E: Oh no! Hope you get better quickly, it seems to be going around. :( Reunion time, fluff, possibly getting-close-to-gold-fever-Thorin... a lot happened in this chapter, and yet, at the same time, so little... Hopefully everything will get a bit better explained next chapter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia**


	32. Chapter 32 - A Fishy Disguise

~~ Elena ~~

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?" Elena demanded, staring hard at Kíli. "What do you mean, it's not the first time?"

"What does it sound like?" Kíli shrugged. "I guess Celia just loves lots of people. She sure seems to move on fast, though. I mean, first it was Balin, then Uncle, then me and Ori..."

Celia's face flushed. "Jerk!" she said grumpily, punching Kíli in the arm as he tried to dodge away, laughing. "You know very well we were just trying to be respectful of dwarven culture and do it right when we asked Balin, and your uncle is the guy who's _supposed_ to put them in, since we don't have any family around to do it for us."

She turned her head away and stuck her nose up in the air haughtily. "Besides, if I were to ever propose to someone - which is highly unlikely - I would never do it to two people at once. It would make it a lot harder cleaning up."

"Cleaning up?" Fíli asked.

Celia nodded. "Everyone back home knows that the best plan of survival is to find someone in power, marry them and get their wealth, then kill them off and live the rest of your days as a grieving, but wealthy, widow."

"Ah, yes," Elena said with a nostalgic tone. "Then you move to another to country, and find someone else to repeat the process. It's a shame we were unable to bring our wealth with us here. But at least there's plenty of royalty here."

Celia chuckled, smirking at the bemused look on everyone's faces. "Legolas is rich, right, El? Did you get to meet him at all?"

Elena held her hands up in the air immediately and shook her head rapidly. "That will actually _never_ happen due to an _excellent_ reason which I can't tell you right now because of reasons." She tilted her head at the others, all of whom looked fairly disturbed at the mention of Elena marrying the woodland prince.

Celia shrugged. "All well, it was a nice idea while it lasted." She glanced sidelong at Kíli. "You're rich, right, Kíli?"

He smacked his face into his hand. "I regret ever befriending you," he deadpanned.

She pouted. "Well, that's not very ni...ce." She slowed to a stop, her eyes fixed at a point beyond Kíli.

The others turned around to see a tall, bearded man standing on a pile of rocks, bow in hand, with an arrow aimed directly at Ori, who was kneeling by the river. Dwalin picked up a large branch and jumped in front of him, branch held up to protect the scribe, but it didn't matter. The man shot his arrow directly between Dwalin's hands on the branch, forcing him backwards with the impact, and had another arrow nocked in the blink of an eye.

Fíli and Óin hastily shoved the girls behind them, while Kíli ducked down to grab a rock. He flinched and threw himself backwards when an arrow landed right in front of the rock, centimeters away from his grasping fingers.

"Do it again, and you're dead," the man threatened, another arrow at the ready. Kíli slowly stood back up, arms raised slightly in surrender.

Balin approached slowly from the side, his hands held up in the sign of peace, and a thoughtful expression on his face. "Excuse me, but, uh, you're from Lake-town, if I'm not mistaken? That barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire, by any chance?" He nodded his head towards a large barge, floating on the river a short distance behind the bowman.

The bowman lowered his bow, evidently dismissing them as an immediate threat, and clambered aboard his barge. "What makes you think I will help you?" he growled, starting to load the barrels onto his boat.

"Those boots have seen better days," Balin pointed out, keeping his tone calm and friendly. "As has that coat. No doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed. How many bairns?"

The man stopped, a fond smile appearing on his face. "A boy and two girls," he whispered proudly.

Balin smiled encouragingly. "And your wife, I bet she's a beauty."

The bowman's smile faded, his eyes growing heavy. "Aye. She was."

Balin lost his smile, his face suddenly showing his age. "Oh. I'm sorry. I did not mean to -"

"Oh, come on, enough of these niceties," Dwalin interrupted in a loud whisper to Thorin, drawing their attention to him.

"What's your hurry?" the man challenged, pulling up the rest of the barrels.

"What's it to you?" Dwalin retorted.

The man just looked hard at him. "I would like to know who you are and what you are doing in these lands."

"We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains journeying to see our kin in the Iron Hills," Balin said placatingly.

"Simple merchants, you say?" the man frowned, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

Thorin nodded, drawing his attention. "We'll need food, supplies, weapons. Can you help us?"

The man stopped, looking at the barrel he was in the middle of loading, running his fingers over some of the nicks and gashes. "I know where these barrels came from."

"What of it?" Thorin scowled, his fingers twitching at his waist where his sword would be if it hadn't been taken by Legolas.

"I don't know what business you had with the elves, but I don't think it ended well. No one enters Lake-town but by leave of the Master. All his wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He will see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil," the man warned them, hopping back onto his boat.

Thorin jerked his head at Balin, who nodded and hastily spoke up. "I'll wager there are ways to enter that town unseen."

"Aye. But for that, you will need a smuggler," the bowman informed him, his tone giving away nothing.

"For which we would pay double," Balin offered.

The man looked at him suspiciously, seeming to weigh it in his head before jerking his head at the boat. "Come on, then," he muttered. "Best be off now."

Thorin was the first one on the boat, seeming to test it before nodding at the others. They hastily gathered up whatever items they had, weapons and packs that had survived the trip down the river or through the forest, and trooped up, one by one, past the silently-waiting boatman. Once they were all aboard, he untied the boat and used a large pole to push them out towards the middle of the river, where it carried them towards the large lake that lay before them.

They all gathered towards the front of the boat, watching as he began to navigate them through the lake, where a fog quickly surrounded them. The novelty quickly wore off for most of them, however, and they broke off into little groups as they sailed, Elena and Celia moving towards the back of the boat, still watching with interest.

Having never been on a barge before, it was a new experience for both of them, though Thorin seemed much less impressed as he and Balin went over the price for their passage with the smuggler.

"I'm still rather cross with you for getting yourself shot before we even reached Lake-town," Celia murmured to her sister, gazing at the murky waters beyond the boat. "But I also know that the river was blocked, and if you hadn't unlocked it, you all could have been killed. And, further, that you couldn't have known you were going to get shot."

She sighed. "For all you knew, things were completely changed because Kíli wasn't there. The arrow might not even have been poisoned, it was a graze compared to the death blow it could have been, and we applied athelas right away, which should help." She sighed. "I'm trying to look on the bright side, but it's still hard not to be angry at you for something you couldn't prevent."

Elena tossed her uninjured arm around her sister's shoulders. "I understand, sis. Worry can make people angry. We already discussed this with Bilbo at the Misty Mountains, remember? You feel angry about having been unable to help them, and can't help but take your anger out on the nearest usable object - which is usually the people you were worried about."

Celia scoffed and rested her head on her twin's shoulder. "When did you become so wise?"

"I was born before you, remember? I'm the oldest. It automatically means that I am the wiser in cases like these," Elena told her, the smile audible in her voice. "Plus, I've already gone through that before. Remember when I went to play at a friend's house while you had practice, or something, and forgot to tell Mom? She was incredibly worried by the time I got home, and scolded me fiercely before giving me a tight hug. She told me the same thing. Sometimes people are angry when they worry because they love you so much, and that just means -"

"That your love comes out violently?" Celia asked with an amused look.

Elena gently whapped her on the back of her head. "Exactly."

Celia pulled away and rubbed the back of her head, exaggerating her pain. "Sheesh, El, you don't need to show me you love me that much," she whined. "If anything, I should be the one whacking you! You were the one who got lost for a week and then got shot!"

Elena poked her in the side. "Yeah, well, you were the one who deviated from the plan and stayed on the path. And besides. Getting lost had good results." She glanced around then lowered her voice, hoping the other dwarves muted chatter and the rushing water beneath them would be enough to cover their hushed conversation. "I was able to speak to Thranduil, and you will _not_ believe what I found out. For one thing, he's actually not such a big jerk after all. He's actually pretty decent if you get to know him. Which, I think we're going to have to."

"Why did you get to know him?" Celia asked, wrinkling her brow. "I mean, why would he be interested in you? Unless..." she stopped and groaned. "Please don't tell me he 'sensed something different about us', and figured out that we wererandir."

Her expression fell at her sister's sheepish look. "Seriously? Gandalf, Elrond, Beorn, and now him, too?" Her voice started to raise in frustration. "I swear, if one more person 'senses something different about us' and figures us out, I'm going to scream."

"May I ask you a question?" the bowman's voice interrupted. They both swiveled in surprise to look at him as he cocked his head to the side. "Is there something different about you? It just seems that - uh... why is your friend banging their head against my boat?" He and Elena turned at a rhythmic thumping sound, spying Celia banging her head against the mast and mouthing the word 'why' over and over.

Elena sighed and shook her head. "Never mind her. What was your question, again?" she asked warily.

He smirked. "Nothing important, I just overheard her saying that she didn't want someone to say that again, and I couldn't resist. You just reminded me of my own daughters, that's all."

"In a good way, or a bad way?" Celia asked, joining them with a faint red mark on her brow.

He smiled. "A good way. You are young, still, and energetic. Like my daughters, Tilda and Sigrid." He shook his head. "But where are my manners? I am Bard."

"I'm Elena, and that's Celia," Elena said, jerking her head at her sister. "If you don't mind my asking... how'd you know we were female? Not that it isn't plainly obvious, but... I've had interactions with an elf or two who seemed completely oblivious."

Bard smirked. "I told you, I could sense something different." He laughed softly at Celia's muffled groan, tilting the rudder so that the boat went around a particularly large piece of ice. "You were protected from me seeing too much by the others until you were on the boat, but your faces and voices were feminine.

"And I have heard the rumors that dwarven women had beards as well, but I have also heard tales from my grandfather, told him by his grandfather, of the days when Dale and Erebor were prosperous, and the women would visit Dale, many of them bearing no signs of beards. Either way, your lack of them was suspicious."

Elena fingered her hairless chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. Seems like you have better logical thought processes than a lot of those 'keen-eyed' elves. One of them seemed to miss it completely, though I have no idea how. Especially considering that they're supposed to be so wise and long-lived that you'd think they'd know what a female dwarf looks like."

Bard raised his eyebrows. "Indeed. Or perhaps he only saw what he was expecting to see. It is strange to see two of you traveling so openly, however. From what little I have heard, I believed them to be protective of their females."

Celia snorted. "Oh, they are. To the extreme. I think it helps that El and I both have weapons and know how to defend ourselves at least a bit," she explained, gesturing to the sheathed axes on Elena, and her own quiver. "Fíli is definitely protective of Elena, though. He's been hovering all day, and I'm pretty sure that if he weren't trapped in a meeting with Thorin, he'd be hovering right now. Right, sis?" she teased.

Elena flushed. "That's just because I've been hurt, and you've been hovering just as much as he does," she snapped.

Celia held up her hands. "Well, duh. He's one of your best friends. Kíli did the same thing after I woke up in the forest. Although, granted, I did kind of need it. I almost walked into a tree. Twice. And that was on day two after I woke up." She rubbed the back of her neck. "That was kind of embarrassing."

Bard smiled and shook his head. "You have the maturity of my Sigrid, but at the same time, you possess the energetic youthfulness of Tilda. It is not often that I meet one of any race, let alone of your kind, that is so willing to trust one they don't know. Even now, your friends are eyeing me distrustfully."

Elena peered over her shoulder and stifled a grin when she caught Fíli staring their way, his stance wary, although he hastily turned back to Thorin when he saw her looking. Some of the others, like Óin and Dwalin, made no secret of their distrust.

"The short answer is that we're just strange," she replied, waving a hand in the air dismissively as she turned back to her sister and Bard. "The long answer is that we're still strange, we're just also a bit more friendly then most people, apparently. And also that you seem like a fairly trustworthy person."

Bard raised an eyebrow. "I'm smuggling you into Lake-town, and it's been made clear that I've done this before. What part of that seems trustworthy to you? For all you know, your friends are right to watch me around you so carefully."

Celia shrugged. "You've set your bow down to steer the ship. The most you could probably get away with right now is flinging one of us overboard, and we both know how to swim - and have already been dunked today. In fact, Kíli flung me in himself, so he wouldn't have much ground to stand on, although I doubt he'd be happy."

"No, I don't imagine he would be," Bard drawled, an amused glint in his eyes. "He seemed to be quite protective of you earlier."

"That's because of her tendencies to run recklessly into danger... or trees," a new voice said, as Kíli appeared behind them. His tone was easygoing enough, but his stance was cautious as he nodded in greeting to Bard. "Kíli."

"Bard," the bowman nodded back, his lips twitching.

Kíli turned to the others. "Fíli would be here, but he's still discussing some things with Uncle." He frowned as he looked more closely at Celia. "Celia, what happened to your face?"

"Watch out!" Bofur shouted suddenly from the front of the boat as looming shapes suddenly appeared out of the ice. Bard appeared completely unaffected by the sudden danger, and expertly navigated the barge between the shapes, the others watching in awe as the lumbering shapes were revealed to be, in fact, ancient ruins that had long ago crumbled.

"What are you trying to do, drown us?" Thorin snarled, glaring at Bard as he continued to wind his way through the ruins.

"I was born and bred on these waters, Master Dwarf. If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here," Bard retorted calmly.

Elena and Celia both had to stifle their laughter as they heard Dwalin grumbling, "Oh, I have had enough of this lippy lakeman. I say we throw him over the side and be done with him."

"So, uh, purely out of curiosity, and in no way related to our earlier conversation, Kíli," Celia said as an aside to the prince before turning back to the bowman, "Where exactly would you drown someone?"

Bard looked at her curiously even as Kíli groaned and turned away. "This is payback for me teasing you earlier, isn't it," he demanded, his voice muffled. "This is totally payback. I tease you for one thing, and you plot my murder. What did I do to deserve a friend like you?"

"Sorry about Kíli," Elena apologized with a straight face. "He's a bit of a drama queen. No idea where he gets it from. It definitely doesn't run in the family or anything."

"El. Hey, El, look!" Celia nudged her sister and pointed towards the front of the boat, where all the rest of the dwarves were staring off into the distance, awed expressions on their faces. Hastily joining them, Elena felt her mouth drop open as she saw something peeking through the mist.

Erebor, the Lonely Mountain.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Glóin hand a bag of coins to Balin, muttering something, but not taking his eyes off the mountain.

Bilbo coughed and gestured meaningfully towards the back of the boat. Bard had left his spot by the rudder, and was making his way towards them, a serious expression on his face. "The money, quick. Give it to me," he said urgently, holding his hand out.

Thorin glared at him suspiciously. "We'll pay you when we get our provisions. Not before," he said stubbornly.

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There's guards ahead," Bard warned, nodding his head in the direction behind them. They all turned as one and saw the roofs of the buildings of what was evidently Lake-town in the distance. Thorin scowled before nodding at Balin, who dropped the coin bag in Bard's waiting hands. "Get in the barrels," Bard ordered. "There should be enough for all of you. Crouch down, and don't make a sound."

The dwarves didn't move for a second, still distrustful, but Elena made the first move. Bard wouldn't betray them, she knew that much even if nobody else did. So she shrugged mentally and picked the closest barrel, balancing carefully as she slid inside the barrel, wincing as the movement tugged at her still aching arm.

"Climb on in, guys, the barrel's fine!" She dropped down for a second then popped back up. "You'll have to get your own barrels, though. I don't feel like sharing."

A thud a moment later indicated her sister had climbed - or fallen - into the barrel next to her, and it quickly became apparent that everyone had clambered into the barrels. After Bard made sure that they were all crouching down, he returned to the rudder, steering towards the wooden city.

Flickering through her memories of what was about to happen, Elena wrinkled her nose at the memory of the fish. She used her good arm to reach up and tug her tunic up slightly, so that it covered her head, then ducking her head down and covering that with her good arm as well. She had no desire to deal with any more fish smell than she had to.

"What's he doing?" someone hissed as the boat rocked to a stop, and muted talking was heard.

"He's talking to someone," Bilbo reported from a nearby barrel, evidently having a peephole in his barrel. "And he's... pointing right at us!" Anxiety grew in his voice. "Now they're shaking hands!"

"What?" Thorin demanded.

"That villain! He's selling us out!" Dwalin growled.

Elena just closed her eyes and waited, trying to enjoy her last moments of not smelling like a fish. She still wasn't prepared, though, for the pounds of cold, smelly fish to come flopping down on her, and had to repress a scream, burying her head further into her arm and trying desperately to breathe through her mouth. She had never been so grateful for the small holes in this barrel before, sticking her face up close to it in an attempt to get fresher air.

The barge began moving again for a few minutes, before slowing down once more. And from the sound of it, Bard had just kicked a barrel. "Quiet! We're approaching the toll gate," he hissed.

"Halt! Goods inspection. Papers, please," a new voice announced as the barge slowed to a stop once more. "Oh, it's you, Bard."

"Morning, Percy," Bard greeted, sounding for all the world as though he didn't have a ship full of dwarves behind him.

"Anything to declare?" Percy asked.

"Nothing but that I'm cold, tired, and ready for home," Bard declared, rustling some papers.

"You and me both," Percy agreed ruefully, stepping away for a moment before returning, the sound of papers rustling returning. "Here you are. All in order."

"Not so fast," a slithering voice announced. Elena clenched her fist angrily. She'd forgotten about the weasel - the ancestor of Grima Wormtongue, if she had to guess. "Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm. Only, they're not empty, are they, Bard?" the weasel said smugly, his voice alone enough to make Elena want to hit him - or throw a fish at him. They seemed equally slimy. "If I recall correctly, you're licensed as a bargeman, not a fisherman."

"That's none of your business," Bard said stoically.

"Wrong," the weasel sneered. "It's the Master's business, which makes it my business."

"Oh come on, Alfrid, have a heart. People need to eat!" Bard pleaded.

"These fish are illegal," the weasel - evidently named Alfrid - retorted, clearly on a high from some power trip or another. "Empty the barrels over the side," he snapped.

Elena sucked in a nervous breath as footsteps began tromping onto the boat, and the sound of barrels were being lifted. Her eyes shot open as her barrel began to tilt to the side, fish falling away from her head and landing with a splash in the water. She braced her arms awkwardly against the side of the barrel in an attempt to keep from falling out.

But it seemed to be useless, as the barrel only inexorably tilted further, closer and closer to the water. Then, the two guards lifting her barrel must have had enough, and turned her barrel completely upside down, sending her into the water with a splash right as Alfrid shouted for them to stop. The last thing she saw before the icy waters closed over her head was the fishes still falling all around her.

* * *

 **A/N: I had someone point out to me that Ch. 20 was somehow replaced with a chapter from my other story (thank you, anonymous reader!), and I'd like to apologize to everyone who somehow got that chapter instead of the proper one - I honestly have no idea how that one ended up there. : / Hopefully it's all fixed now.**

 **In which I have writer's block which is why this chapter is several hours late (and shorter than usual... the creativity side of my brain seems to have taken a break, unfortunately for me. :P), Bard is actually pretty chill, and Elena is sent to swim with the fishes... Does this technically count as a cliffhanger? Idk...**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Guest, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: What... why would Kíli be smug about teasing Celia? *innocent look that is totally unbelievable* Bard is here, and the family is all reunited (for once. There might possibly be another separation in the near future... maybe) thanks for reviewing! Hope you liked it!**_

 _ **Guest: So, at first I had no idea what you were talking about, because when I first checked it, it seemed completely normal. Then, I uploaded the published version, and saw that this had somehow happened. :P Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! I have no clue how it happened, but hopefully it never does again. I hope you liked the rest of the chapters (that should all be from the correct story this time).**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Aww, I'm glad you liked it! (and that it made you laugh. It's always good to get a pleasant reaction out of my readers - and even a bad one, sometimes, when you kill/hurt someone they like - which I would never do... *laughs nervously and hides plans for the BoFA chapter behind my back***_

 _ **E: Yeah, Celia seems to be pretty good at putting her foot in her mouth at times...As for Thorin, he hasn't completely given in to the gold sickness just yet, he's just crabbier than usual. As for me letting them all live... *Checks notes for BoFA chapter* *coughs awkwardly* hehe, uh, spoilers? Let's just say I hope to provoke a strong reaction with it... If it's any comfort, I do like my happy ever after endings. I just won't promise who will be the one to get them... (And Bard's here, now. Hope he satisfies.) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia**


	33. Chapter 33 - The Smuggler's Home

~~ Celia ~~

She had never before been so grateful for a hood. Or, for that matter, that she happened to have thrown it over her tunic earlier that morning. Otherwise, she was nearly certain that she'd never have been able to get the fishy smell out of her hair. It was a pain to wash as it was.

She was also really starting to hate the smell of fish.

She'd never been overly fond of it before, but now, surrounded by dozens of cold, wet fish, and the near overpowering scent that came with it, she was starting to think that a skunk might be preferable. As it was, she just tried to keep her head down, her neck covered, and her hands tucked in so that no part of her bare skin was touching the clamminess that surrounded her.

Of course, that would all have been for naught if Alfrid had his way, and dumped them all overboard. Seriously, if she ended up being stuck in a barrel and surrounded by fish for nothing, just to end up being dragged before the Master of the town, she was going to hit something.

And it would most likely be Alfrid. She had never liked the greasy-looking, sniveling man before, but if he turned them in, she would _not_ be held responsible for her actions. She just had to hope that Bard could stop him before everything was revealed.

Speaking of which, she could hear him trying to bargain with Alfrid, while the sound of a barrel being tipped, and fishes falling into the ocean made for an unpleasant background noise.

"Folk in this town are struggling. Times are hard. Food is scarce," Bard tried.

"That's not my problem," Alfrid sneered, completely unmoved.

"And when the people hear the Master is dumping fish back in the lake, when the rioting starts, will it be your problem then?" Bard countered.

Celia held her breath tensely, waiting for Alfrid's response. All the while, she could hear fish falling into the water, and could only pray that there was nobody in any of the barrels being spilled.

Finally, it came. "Stop," Alfrid hissed, sounding none too pleased about doing so. There was a particularly large splash that erupted then, before a thud as an empty barrel was set back on the barge. "What was that?" he demanded. "What did you do?"

"The barrel was heavy, Sir," one of the guards explained. "So we both decided to lift it and dump it overboard. Everything fell out at once, and made a large splash."

"Idiots," Alfrid bit out. "The people won't be too happy with you for doing that. They seem to be overly fond of their food, according to this buffoon over here. Leave the barrels." There was the sound of another barrel being set down- this one still evidently containing some fish, as it sounded less empty, before the soldiers tromped off the barge, making it shake slightly as they left. "Ever the people's champion, eh, Bard?" the Master's assistant spat. "Protector of the common folk? You might have their favor now, bargeman, but it won't last."

There was silence, then Percy called out, "Raise the gate!"

Celia bit her lip as she heard wood and metal creaking, not daring to hope yet that something wouldn't go wrong, and they wouldn't be called back and discovered. But, it seemed they were in the clear as Bard stepped back on the boat and crossed to the side, seeming to check for something, before sighing and returning to the back, where he slowly began to pole them forward.

Not satisfied with the way things ended, Alfrid tried for one more parting shot. "The Master has his eye on you; you'd do well to remember. We know where you live," he called, trying to sound menacing.

Bard seemed resoundingly un-menaced, his voice calm and even slightly mocking as he returned fire with much greater accuracy. "It's a small town, Alfrid; everyone knows where everyone lives."

Celia muffled a laugh at Alfrid's clearly distinguishable indignant 'hmph!' as Bard navigated the waters of Lake-town. They continued on in silence for another five minutes before the barge began to slow, eventually stopping and gently bumping against another wooden object. Bard moved around for a few minutes, evidently docking the boat, before starting to tip over the barrels.

"Get your hands off me!" she heard Dwalin hiss.

Bard muttered something in surrender before moving on to her barrel, carefully tipping it over and starting to pull the fish away. She groaned as she crawled out, noticing the others doing so as well, all looking greasy and slimy. Dwalin's barrel was still upright, and he was currently struggling to lift himself out of the mass of fish, but the glare on his face halted any thoughts of offers of help.

"I hope fish isn't a main staple of dwarves, because I don't really want to see it ever again," Celia grumbled, flicking her hood back from her head and shuddering as she touched the slimy wetness. "That was disgusting, and I never want to do it again. And what are you doing?" she asked, distracted from her rantings by the sight of Bard hunched over the back of the boat, a rope in his hands.

"The barrel they tipped over the side - it held your sister inside," he grunted. "She fell into the water, although I do not believe they saw her. Alfrid would have surely mentioned it if he did."

"What?" she cried shrilly, darting over to join him, looking over the side. "Where - where is she?"

"What happened to Elena?" Fíli demanded, appearing on Bard's other side, his face thunderous. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Bard muttered, eyes searching the waters. "I spotted her near the stern after the soldiers left. She waved to show me she was all right, but I couldn't lift her on board then, as it would have been too obvious and she would have been spotted immediately. Instead, I dropped a rope over the side for her to hold onto, in hopes that she would be able to hold on until we docked."

"Then where is she?" Celia practically begged, running a hand through her still-damp hair. "She should have been able to hang on this long, or at least wrap it around her legs, and be pulled along that way." The other dwarves had realized the problem by now, and had gathered around the stern with them, peering into the dark waters for any sign of their missing friend.

"Hang on - I see something coming up!" Fíli pointed to a spot a few yards away, and all of them immediately began straining to see. They all breathed a sigh of relief as Elena's head popped through the water, and she began to gasp for air, swimming tiredly towards them, paddling slowly.

"Elena, what happened?" Celia cried.

"My arm - couldn't hold on - any longer," Elena explained between gasps, struggling to keep her head above water. She approached the boat and lifted up her uninjured arm, dipping under the water briefly and spluttering as she resurfaced. "If one of you could help me up, that'd be much appreciated," she managed, coughing out water.

Fíli acted first, leaning down and grasping her hand before heaving backwards, lifting her enough that the others could grab on and bring her onto the barge. She sprawled on the deck, dripping and gasping for a few minutes before rolling over and struggling to her feet.

"Thanks. Sorry about that," she muttered between gasps. "I held on for as long as I could, tried wrapping it around my legs to help me hold on. But the current kept knocking it loose. And then I had to stay close to the water, in case someone saw me, and the rope kept burning my hands."

She squeezed water out of her hair, still panting. "And then I saw something, I don't know what, a piece of driftwood or something, coming towards me, and I had to use my good arm to try and fend it off. But it had enough force that it winded me, and my bad arm just, spasmed, I guess, and gave up. I tried to keep up as best as I could, but I only just caught up to you."

Fíli rolled his eyes when he saw her shiver and stepped up behind her, rubbing her arms briskly to warm them up, although he made sure to steer clear of her injury. "I swear, these things don't just happen to you, you actively seek them out. Next time you're coming in my barrel, if I have to sit on you to keep you safe."

"If there is a next time, I'll take you up on it," Elena agreed through chattering teeth, curling into him instinctively. "That water was _cold_. Not to say that I have any desire to be smothered in fish again, ever. Thanks for throwing the rope over, though, Bard. It did help me keep up for most of the trip."

"I am glad to see that you are safe, Elena," Thorin said, stepping forward. His expression was serious, but Celia would go to her grave swearing she saw him hiding a small smile at the scene just a moment before. "But we are out in the open and rather conspicuous here. If you are able, I believe we should keep moving."

Bard nodded. "Follow me." He waited until Celia, Kíli, and Ori had grabbed their packs before leading the way off the barge and onto the docks, where a middle-aged man was standing, staring at them in shock. He slipped him a coin. "You didn't see them, they were never here. The fish you can have for nothing," he murmured. The man nodded dumbly, slipping the coin in to his pocket and stepping towards the boat.

Bard didn't look back, leading the dwarves - and an extremely undignified-looking Bilbo - through back alleys and side streets. He held up a hand for them to stop when a young boy in his early teens ran up to them. "Da! Our house, it's being watched!" he exclaimed, looking back at the group behind his father curiously.

Bard nodded, jerking his head at Thorin, who stepped forwards, his stance tense. They argued in a hushed conversation for several minutes, evidently trying to come up with a plan.

"What do you think they'll come up with?" Elena mumbled. "I mean, it looks like they've gone through several different ideas already."

Celia looked over at them and had to bite back a smile. Normally, she'd be hovering over her sister and trying to warm her up, worried about her arm, and all that. And she was still worried, of course. But she didn't think she would need to hover this time.

Fíli seemed to have that covered. Her twin was leaning against his chest, her eyes half closed, and she was clutching her injured arm to her chest, teeth chattering, while Fíli rubbed her arms, both supporting her and warming her at once.

They were both wet, covered in fish oil, had bruises scattered in various places, and Elena had a dirty, bloody bandage wrapped around her arm. In short, it was adorable, and she wouldn't break it up for the world. And judging by the warm smile on Kíli's face, he felt the same way.

"What do you think, Cel? Any ideas?" Kíli asked, a teasing glint in his eyes.

She shrugged. "I think we're about to find out," she commented, pointing towards the two leaders returning to the group. "But if the look on Thorin's face is anything to go by, I don't think we're going to like it."

They didn't. In fact, they thought it was a terrible idea.

But it was the only one they had, and so that was what they went with. Celia, Kíli, and Ori all handed him their bags, and their unstrung bows and quivers, before reluctantly slipping into the cold water, hoping that at least that way they'd still have something clean and dry to slip into once they were out of the cold water again. Bard gave them clear instructions on what the signal was, and directions to his house, which was thankfully only a short distance away, before slipping off with his son.

"Kíli?" Celia asked through chattering teeth as the group made their way through the water towards Bard's house, trying to hide under the walkways and against the walls. The waters were deep and icy, and they all had to swim to stay afloat, or clutch at the walls and the various pillars or supports to help them.

"Yeah?"

"If I had known that we'd end up in the water again a few hours later, I would never have suggested that we all needed to take a bath." She shivered. "Plus, this water is much colder than it was back there," she complained softly, biting back a whimper. "And it's a lot deeper than the river."

Kíli huffed a laugh, although he didn't sound much better off. "I probably wouldn't have thrown you in if I'd known that you'd willingly be getting dunked a short time later. Actually - never mind, I take that back. It wouldn't have mattered in the end, so I probably still would have dunked you. You did insinuate that we all smelled, after all."

"Shh!" Dwalin called back harshly. "We're nearly there."

This was the hardest part of their trip, and, of course, the closest to the end. They would have to swim across open waters and resurface underneath the back porch of Bard's house, then climb up through their toilet - the best part of the plan, and everyone's favorite - and into his house.

They all stopped by the edge of the last support, then one by one, made the dash across the water, staying under for as long as possible before resurfacing under Bard's house, the one Bard had told them would be marked with a boat in the back, and a pole laying across it.

Thorin went first, then Dwalin, the others quickly following. Fíli had to help Elena across, but the waters seemed to be shallower by the houses, and they were able to stand and catch their breath while they waited for the signal.

"You all right?" Kíli asked, surfacing next to Celia and startling her. She jumped and clutched at her heart before closing her eyes and relaxing.

"Don't do that!" she complained, pouting when he only sniggered.

A loud knocking sound made them all look over to the right, where Nori - who'd scouted it out already - had informed them the toilet was, although a wall extended down to the water for privacy. "That's the signal," Dwalin growled. "I'll go first, make sure it's not a trap." Taking a deep breath, he dove under the water and swam underneath the barrier.

"Bilbo, you go next. Wear your ring just to be safe. Drop back down and let us know what you see, and if it's safe, just climb out ," the dwarf king ordered. "Fíli, Elena will need someone to help her out, so you go before her. Then Kíli, then Celia. Everyone else will wait in line. I will go last, to make sure that everyone gets up there safely. Is that understood?"

There was a general mumble of agreement before Bilbo disappeared next, popping back down a moment later to let them know that it was all good before disappearing again. Fíli and Elena went next, although Kíli had to join them in the cramped space to boost Elena up, since she couldn't use her arm to support herself at all.

Celia took a deep breath and steeled herself before making her way into the sectioned-off space. There was a large square-shaped opening above her, where Kíli beamed down at her.

"Fancy seeing you here, my lady," he teased.

She wrinkled her nose. "Oh, hush," she told him, pushing herself off the ground to give herself more height as she grabbed hold of the edges of the toiled base, trying not to think about what she was doing. He laughed as he placed his hands under her arms and lifted her up and out of the water, setting her down on the floor once she was clear of the toilet. "That was unpleasant," she muttered, forcing a smile and a grateful nod for Bard's son, who stood off to the side, waiting to help anyone who needed it.

"Come on. There's towels upstairs. We can dry off there," Kíli said, gesturing towards a set of stairs at the end of the hallway. She nodded eagerly, trying to wring out her clothes as much as possible before they clambered up the stairs, where they found Bard, and two young girls - although one of them was almost fully grown - waiting for them, blankets in hand.

"I've got some heated water for a bath for you and your sister upstairs," the older girl said seriously. "And some of Tilda's clothes might fit you, although they're probably a bit small. I'm Sigrid."

"I'm Celia, and thank you," Celia said gratefully, rubbing her arms. "Some warmth would be very welcome right now."

"I've never seen a female dwarf before," the younger girl - Tilda - said, eyes wide.

Celia smiled at her. "We're pretty good at hiding, I guess." She looked around as a few more dwarves came tromping into the room, before spotting her sister hovering in front of the fire, and Fíli trying to rub some warmth back into her hands. "Elena, come on. Miss Sigrid's got a bath waiting for us upstairs. And possibly some dry clothes, although I might have some in my bag, as well." Spotting her bag sitting on the table next to Ori and Kíli's, she nodded her thanks to Bard before grabbing it and following Sigrid up the stairs, her sister close behind.

"This is the extra room," Sigrid said, pushing open a closed door. Inside, a circular wooden bathtub full of hot water sat in the middle of the floor, with two more steaming buckets of water and a bar of soap off to the side, and a bed lay against the wall. A fireplace against one of the walls had a low fire burning, emitting a gentle heat into the room. "You should be able to bathe in privacy here, just push the bolt through the lock. Da said your sister had been injured. Will she need anything?"

"I'm a healer, so I'll take a look at it and let you know. Thank you so much," Celia said, smiling brightly at the girl. She smiled back, the expression transforming her face as she ushered them in, then shut the door behind her.

Celia set her bag on the floor and locked the door before turning to her sister. "All right, El. You first. That way I can take a look at your arm again, and then you can rest while I bathe. Sound good?"

Elena nodded, fighting off another shiver. "As long as it's warm, I'm good."

"Okay. Why don't you get in the tub," Celia offered. "Just keep your arm out of the water until I get the chance to look at it. I can't imagine that being dunked in the lake a few times was very good for it."

She turned her back until a splash indicated that her sister had entered the tub, then turned around and picked up her arm gently, pulling off the now soaked and useless bandage. She hastily washed her hands in the water before handing the soap and a rag from her pack to her sister to use while she examined the wound.

Most of the paste had been washed away, and the dirty waters of Lake-town couldn't have been good for it, but the athelas seemed to have helped a little bit, for all that it was only on a short time. The bleeding had stopped, at least temporarily, and the angry red color around the wound was no longer quite so apparent.

Celia breathed out a sigh of relief as she carefully washed her arm and wound in the water before drying it off and wrapping a loose bandage around it. "I'll ask Óin to take a look at it later," she said. "It looks like the athelas has already helped, but I don't have any more of the paste at the moment, and he should probably take a look at it now that we're no longer quite so pressed for time. Are you good with everything else, or do you need my help?"

"Could you help me wash my hair?" Elena asked, carefully holding her arm out of the water. "I've already washed my face and body, but I don't think I'll be able to wash it out fully with just one hand."

Celia hummed before taking out her family braid and setting the bead off to the side on the table near the bed. Then she grabbed the bar of soap and lathered it up, using that to wash her sister's hair, using her fingers to go in and gently work through any tangles as she carefully cleaned it. "It actually doesn't look that bad, aside from a few snarls here and there from the water. I take it the elves were kind enough to give you shampoo?" she asked in a teasing voice.

Elena hesitated. "Actually... well, no, we all just got soap when we were brought to a bathing room. Or, at least, I'm assuming we all did. They sent us at different times, obviously. But, Cel. There's something I need to tell you, that I found out while I was there. It's important."

"Sounds like it," Celia murmured, locating an empty pitcher by the fireplace and using that to rinse out her twin's hair. "Hang on, I'm going to grab a brush. You can tell me while I work through these snarls."

She was quiet as her sister told her everything she'd found out from her stay in Thranduil's dungeons, including their strange relationship to the elf, and the possible return of their mother. "So, you're saying that all those times we joked about her being a runaway princess bride, it was true?"

"Well, mostly. Apparently she was the Queen of Mirkwood, and happily so, but otherwise, yeah. I met Legolas, too. He's still a bit of a jerk at this point. I don't think he likes me, but that could be because I may or may not have gotten him in trouble with his father," she said sheepishly.

Celia raised an eyebrow. "Or because we're dwarves, and he's not exactly fond of them at this point in time," she pointed out. "But I can't imagine that he would be overly pleased about you getting him in trouble. Especially considering that Thranduil's so... ya know."

Elena giggled. "He's actually not that bad in real life. Well, not for me, at least, once we got to know each other. Him and Thorin were still at each other's throats. He was much nicer to me. And he sent out search parties to look for you, Kíli, and Ori when we thought you were lost in the forest."

Celia grabbed a towel and began to gently dry off her sister's hair, putting the family braid back in before tying it off with her bead. "That was nice of him," she murmured. "Hold still, I'm almost done. There. You can climb out now. I want to take a bath before the water cools completely." Elena grumbled as she reluctantly got to her feet, shivering as the cool air hit her skin, raising goosebumps as she quickly toweled off.

"Hang on, I think I've got a clean outfit in here somewhere," Celia muttered, digging through her bag. "Yep. Just enough for both of us. Hopefully we'll be able to wash these ones before too long, or something." She set the clothes on the side of the tub before turning her back so her sister could change.

"Thanks," Elena said gratefully, quickly stepping out of the tub and drying off before pulling on the clothes, wincing as the tunic brushed against her arm. "It feels so good to be dry again. First the barrel ride down the river, then getting smothered by fishes, then being dropped into the lake along with said fishes. Oh, and getting shot. Which sucks, by the way. Don't ever do it."

"I'll try not to," Celia promised with an amused look. "Why don't you try and take a nap while I wash? I'll ask Óin about your arm later."

"Okay," Elena agreed between yawns, curling up on the small bed and pulling the blankets up to her chin. "Wake me up when Smaug attacks. 'Cause that's when I'll probably be awake enough to care what's going on."

"Don't let the others hear you say that," Celia grinned, dumping some of the dirty water out the back of the house before adding the two buckets of fresh water, changing, and stepping into the tub, quickly going to work scrubbing herself. "There's usually a few less than nice adjectives inserted whenever they mention his name. Of course, Fíli, I suppose, will just be glad that you're finally resting, although no doubt he's already decided that you're going to be nowhere near the dragon if he has any say in the matter," she teased.

There was no reaction for a few moments before Elena roused herself enough to respond. "'Cause Kíli will be totally fine with it. He'll probably be pushing you towards the dragon, right?" she retorted sleepily, her eyes closed.

Celia muffled her laughter, dunking her head underwater and quickly lathering the soap into her hair. "I wasn't the one snuggled up to a prince today," she remarked innocently once she had surfaced. "But if it helps, I think Thorin thought it was cute, too. I saw him hiding a smile. Even Kíli thought it was adorable, though I can't promise he won't tease you about it later."

She ducked her head again, quickly washing her face and hair before surfacing, wondering at the lack of response. Elena was fast asleep on the bed, her injured arm laying on top of the covers.

Shaking her head fondly, she quickly finished and stood up, drying off as quickly as she could before throwing on the clean clothes she'd left out, and beginning on the arduous task of combing out her long hair.

It was more difficult than usual, given that she hadn't had the chance to comb it out after her earlier swim that morning, and that her hair seemed to tangle all on its own, without any outside help. Finally, though, she was done, although she couldn't yet replicate her family braid on herself. Using the buckets, she slowly emptied the tub out the window, before moving the now-empty tub off to the side of the room.

Grabbing her bead, she cast one last look over her shoulder at her sister, making sure she was still asleep, before undoing the bolt and creeping out of the room, shutting the door gently behind her.

When she got downstairs, most of the Company had dried off as well, although several of them were still huddled in front of the fireplace, their outer clothes laid out to dry. Everyone else was grouped together, Thorin discussing something serious with Dwalin, Balin, and Óin, the latter two looking none too happy.

"Celia! Are you all clean now?" Kíli asked innocently, bounding up to her with a mischievous grin on his face. "After all, you were very adamant about its importance earlier." Then his grin dropped as he took on a more serious look. "In all seriousness, is Elena all right? She didn't look very good earlier, and Fíli's been rather worried about her. Well, I say 'rather'," he waggled his eyebrows teasingly at his brother.

Celia hid a smile at the dirty look Fíli shot him. "She was asleep when I left her. I took a look at her arm, and it looks like the athelas helped some, but we'll probably need to put more on. I want Óin to take a look at it before we do anything first, though." She looked around the room and frowned. "Where are our hosts? I wanted to thank them."

"The girls are upstairs, in their rooms. Their father sent them there so that we could change and get the chance to dry off. As for Bard and his son... I think they had an errand to run. They left a short time ago, but I don't know when they'll be back," Kíli answered.

Celia nodded. "Do you think Thorin would be willing to put my braid back in?" she asked. "I don't know how to do it myself or I would have, and Elena's asleep. Otherwise I would have just asked her, as long as it didn't hurt her arm too much." She waggled her eyebrows at Kíli teasingly. "And I dare not ask you to do it."

Kíli rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, fine, I get it. I overreacted." He glanced over his shoulder at his uncle appraisingly. "I think he'll be willing. His mood isn't that foul, and he's much better at containing it when you're around. He should be done talking to the others soon, I think they're just finishing up."

Celia nodded. "Excuse me a moment, then," she said, slipping around the two brothers to approach their uncle as Balin and Dwalin moved off, talking in hushed voices.

"Excuse me, Thorin," she said timidly as the dwarf lord turned to her. "I'm sorry to bother you, but uh... do you think you could please put my family braid back in my hair for me? I haven't had the chance to learn how to do it on myself yet, and Elena's resting upstairs. And uh... Kíli's already explained to me why I couldn't just ask him to do it," she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Thorin shook his head, all but rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, I imagine he has." Dismissing the subject, he nodded at her. "Of course. You'll need to come sit by the window, though, so that I can see properly. How is your sister feeling?" he asked as they sat down by the window and Thorin started to braid her hair.

"I'm not sure," Celia sighed, trying to stay absolutely still. "I mean, the wound was looking better when I checked it, but the lake water is awfully dirty, and it can't have been good for her. I tried to clean it as best as I could, but I didn't have any more paste to put on it, so I just loosely re-wrapped it and left it there until Óin gets the chance to look at it. I thought it might help," she added as she handed Thorin the bead so he could tie off her braid.

Oín nodded. "I'll be sure to do that. But if she's sleeping, and there's no sign of the fever, it might be best to just let her sleep. We didn't get much rest last night, and it can't hurt her to get a few more hours. In the meantime, though, there's something I've been meaning to discuss with you. I've already talked it over with Thorin, and he agrees."

"Agrees to what?" Celia asked nervously, looking between the two older dwarves.

Óin smiled at her proudly. "To giving you a braid that denotes your status as a healer. I've been meaning to do that for a while, but what with the events of Mirkwood and all, I never got the chance. And in light of recent events, now would be the best time to do it, as well," he added, shooting a look of vague displeasure at Thorin.

"Can you do that?" she asked, eyes wide.

Óin snorted. "Lass, he's the King, and I'm the Chief Healer. I've seen your work firsthand, and I know you were trained before coming here as well. And with the whole business with Erebor coming up," he added somberly, lowering his voice. "It might be for the best that you're officially marked as a healer. If you're willing, I can give you a healer's braid, and a bead as well, although it will only be temporary until we can get you a proper bead in Erebor."

Celia nodded dumbly, still trying to process. "Of - of course!" she agreed after a moment. "If you and Thorin think that it's for the best, then yes. I think it'd be a good idea."

Oín nodded. "That's what I thought. You're a smart lass, for all that you hang around with the lads so much." He raised his voice to talk calmly over the princes' objections. "It should settle on the left side of your face, opposite your family braid. Although, if you'd like, once you learn how, you can replicate it on either side."

Celia smiled, getting comfortable before settling back to allow Oín access to her hair. His fingers were heavy, but careful as he separated a lock of her hair into four parts before braiding it into an elaborate four-strand braid, tying it off at the bottom with a silver bead he pulled from his pouch that had somehow survived the trek through Mirkwood and the river.

"This makes it official," he announced, getting to his feet with a groan as his bones creaked. "You are now Lady Celestiel, daughter of Thokar and Elin, and Assistant Chief Healer to the royal family of Erebor."

* * *

 **A/N: *Sigh* I had 99% of this chapter pretty much written by noon today. I was so pleased, all, "I'm going to post early! Yay!" Nope. I'd celebrate my new procastination award ceremony, but it's been pushed off until tomorrow.**

 **All well, at least it's finished now. :/ And we're getting closer to the end!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yep. Elena's just had one case of bad luck after another... it should be picking up for her soon, though... I even gave her cuddles with Fíli this chapter! hehehe. :D Thanks for reviewing! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Aww, I'm glad I could help! Hope you liked this one as well. :) Thanks for reviewing!**_

 _ **E: Yeah, I think I'm dealing with a subconscious issue by throwing them in the water all these times, lol. As a kid, every time we'd go down the river, I'd fall in. Every time. Didn't matter how far away I was, I'd end up in the water. :P Maybe I'm trying to deal with it by pushing Elena in? Lol. At least I made up for it by giving her cuddles with overprotective-Fíli. And while I've been reconsidering some of my plot ideas, the main ones are still there... they won't be changing any time soon. Sorry. :/ (See below)  
**_ _ **If it helps soothe your mind any, I hate stories with depressing endings. And if you check out my one-shots, you'll see how big a fan of fluff and happy endings I am. So, I promise this: Everyone who survives the BoFA will have a sickeningly sweet, fluffy, totally unbelievably sappy happy ending... at least, until I post the epilogue to set it up for the sequel. :) And I've already promised that Elena would survive, so there's that... And don't worry... Celia will be having her own share of misadventures soon... ;) And maybe someone else... someone important to both the twins and a certain pair of elvish royalty... Thanks for reviewing. Hope you liked it! :D**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	34. Chapter 34 - Waiting

~~ Elena ~~

When she woke up, she was alone in the room, although her sister seemed to have cleaned it up before she left, and someone must have stoked the fire, because she was absolutely roasting underneath her blankets.

The empty tub had been pushed to one side, and their dirty clothes had been gathered up, whether to be washed when they got the opportunity, or just put out of sight, she didn't know. She let out a soft sigh and sat up, starting to stretch before the pain in her left arm told her that it was a bad idea. She shrank back down, rubbing her arm instinctively in an effort to dull the pain.

There was a knock on the door before her sister opened it and peered in. "El? You awake? Because if not I - oh. Uh, I brought Óin to take a look at your arm. You okay with that?"

Elena nodded, sitting up fully and unraveling the loose wrap from her arm so that the older healer could take a look at it. She tried not to look at it as Óin examined her arm, twisting it gently to view it from different angles in the light from the window.

She typically wasn't squeamish at the sight of blood - and she had seen a lot of it in the past few months - but there was something about the sight of your own blood that made her slightly nauseous. Then again, it could also be fever from infection, or something like that. For all they knew, the arrow _had_ been poisoned, and the athelas had only delayed its effects.

"How are you feeling?" the dwarf asked her, peering at her with sharp eyes. "And mind you don't hide anything, even if it seems like something minor. It could be important in the long run."

She chewed on her lip absentmindedly before admitting that she felt slightly nauseous. "It could be from seeing my own blood, though. It's happened before several times, and the nausea doesn't feel too bad. My arm doesn't hurt too much, it's pretty much just a dull pain unless I touch it, or stretch it or something. But I also feel really hot. Did someone stoke the fire in here, or is it just me?"

Óin glanced at her sister, seeming to have a silent exchange before turning back to her. "Lass, the fire's burned down to just the coals. It's not putting out much in the way of heat. Your cheeks are flushed, and your eyes are dull. Not to mention the heat radiating from your skin. I'd say you have a fever."

"Does that -" Celia swallowed hard. "Does that mean that the arrow was poisoned? Or that the wound got infected?"

Óin shook his head. "It's too soon to tell, I'm sorry. But the redness and swelling around the site have gone down, so that's a good sign. The athelas may have helped with that. Applying more may help keep any infection at bay, and I can brew up a tea that will help with the nausea. And the bleeding has stopped, which is good. I'll see if they have any more athelas around here - the last of my supply was ruined in the river, and I believe the last of yours was used already."

He strode to the door, deep in thought before turning around. "If you feel up to it, I think the two lads were wanting to see you - they were a fair bit worried about you earlier. Shall I send them up?"

Elena nodded, a small smile appearing on her face. "Sure. That'd be nice, thanks."

"Óin," Celia called, just as he was about to shut the door behind him. "Ori might have some more athelas. I don't think we used his, just mine and Kíli's. I didn't even think of it earlier, or I would've used it by now."

Óin chuckled. "Don't blame yourself too much, lass. Things were a touch crazy for a while, there. And the rest did your sister good, even if she doesn't look it. I'll be back with the tea in a bit." He sent a firm glance to Celia. "Make sure she doesn't get too roused up, and feel free to send them out if she gets too tired. Rest can only help her, and we're not going anywhere until Bard gets back with some weapons for us, at least, and he told us that might be a while, since the house is being watched."

Celia nodded. "Hear that, El?" she asked, looking sidelong at her sister. "No roughhousing."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Gee, what a shame. And here I was looking forward to a rousing game of arm wrestling. Such a disappointment. How ever will I go on in life with this crushing news weighing me down so heavily?" She flopped down on her bed and draped her good arm dramatically across her eyes.

"I can feel your sarcasm from here," her twin deadpanned, coming to sit on the bed besides her. "Better be careful, it could be permanent."

"What, like the story that if you make weird faces, it'll get stuck that way? And besides, don't you think it's too late for the both us? I kind of feel like it is."

"Nah. I have absolutely no problem with sarcasm. I can stop at any time, I just don't want to."

"Well, that last part I can testify to, but as for the first part..." Kíli's voice made them both look up to the door. He and his brother were standing by the door frame, smiles on their faces as they watched the scene. "I'm pretty sure you actually have a serious case of sarcasm. You should probably see a healer about that. Maybe it's not too late."

"Mind if we come in?" Fíli interposed gracefully, raising his eyebrows at his brother. "Óin told us we could visit you as long as we didn't tire you out. Apparently you're under strict orders to rest."

Elena waved her good hand in the air before flopping it back down on the bed, reluctantly sitting up and leaning against the wall with the pillow at her back. "Come on in. It'll be nice to just sit for a minute without worrying about orcs, or elves, or greasy weasels who work for the Master of Lake-town. You can sit on the bed, if there's room, or you can sit on the floor at our feet. Nothing demeaning about that."

Fíli shrugged, pushing the door open all the way and sitting down by the wall across from the bed, his brother sitting down next to him. "Or we can sit over here, you know, by the wall."

"Fair point," Elena conceded. They all sat in awkward silence for a minute before she rolled her eyes. "Okay, this is ridiculous. Did you come up here to entertain me, or to stare at me awkwardly, or to actually provide semi-intelligent conversation, or...?"

"We just wanted to stare at you," Kíli confirmed nonchalantly. "Well, that and make sure you're all right." He nudged his brother. "We were pretty worried about you, right, Fee? After all, you guys are pretty close to us by now, so if anything happened, we'd probably get all overprotective and hovering. Because you guys are our friends, right, Fee?" His tone was filled with the patented teasing brother tone, the one that meant Elena would probably be getting the sister version of it later.

Fíli mumbled something unintelligible before rolling his eyes and raising his voice to confirm that yes, he had been worried about his _friend_ , emphasizing the word just as Kíli had done, after she had gotten shot. Because he was a decent dwarf, who worried about his friends when they got hurt.

"Well, I'm fine, thanks for asking," Elena answered, hiding a smile at Fíli's annoyed look, and Kíli's equally innocent one. "Óin looked my arm over, and I think he wants to put some more athelas on it, so he's gonna see if Ori has any left over. I feel kind of warm, and I'm still tired, but my arm doesn't hurt too much otherwise. What about you guys? I didn't even get the chance to ask earlier. What's been going on?"

Kíli grinned. "Well, for one thing, Bilbo's got the sniffles, and when he sneezes, it's adorable. His sneezes make me think of a baby rabbit for some reason. He wasn't very impressed with me when I said that, though."

Elena exchanged an incredulous glance with her sister before bursting into laughter, trying fruitlessly to muffle it into her hands. "I wonder - why," she managed to gasp out. "You're not wrong, though. We just had the sense not to tell him that. You'll probably regret that later."

Celia nodded with the confidence of one who's seen it before. "You will. You might want to check your pack before you sleep tonight. And possibly your boots, the next time you take them off, before you put them back on."

She smirked at the suddenly unsettled look Kíli was sporting. "You think that because he acts like a Baggins most of the time that means that he doesn't have any Took in him? Nah, it just means that if he does let that side loose, that you more than likely deserve it."

"Like there was any doubt of that before?" the dark-haired prince pointed out. "I'm not exactly the innocent one here, if that term could be applied to any of us." He ran a hand through his hair, brushing against the family braid as he leaned against the wall. "So, anyways, Bilbo and Dori are both fighting off colds, Óin's busy making tea for all of them, and your sister has received a very high honor, in case she hasn't gotten around to telling you yet."

Elena frowned and shook her head. "She hasn't mentioned anything yet, but she hasn't really had the chance to, either." She tilted her head and looked her sister over carefully. "Does it have anything to do with the new braid in your hair?" she asked after a minute. "I mean, I don't know if it means anything or not, but it wasn't there before, so..."

Celia smiled sheepishly, fiddling with her new braid. "Yeah. I had to ask Thorin to help braid my family braid back in, since you were asleep, and once he was done with that, Óin stepped in. He said it was time I got a braid that showed my status as a healer, and offered to do it for me, and then offered me a bead that meant I am now officially the Assistant Chief Healer to basically the entire royal family." She grinned at the shocked look on Elena's face. "Yeah, that was about my reaction when he said that, too. I was _not_ expecting that."

"It's a great honor, to be sure," Fíli agreed, watching her carefully, his tone somber. "But it also worries me."

"What do you mean?" Celia asked uncertainly, suddenly noticing the serious look on both the princes' faces. "Why would that be worrying? I mean, unless you're referring to my healing skills?" she asked in a weak attempt at a joke.

Fíli laughed, but it didn't last long as he shook his head, staring at one of the cracks in the wood floor. "No, it's not that. Óin would never have given you the braid or the bead if you didn't deserve it, and hadn't proven yourself. But the reason he's giving it to you - now, when we're so close to Erebor." He lowered his voice. "When we're so close to taking on a dragon. If he's giving you a physical sign of your status and ability - a proof, when everyone in the Company already knows your skills, and has no need of proof..."

"Are you saying that... I don't know. He's trying to prepare me for something? Or... I don't know. What are you saying?" Celia asked, nervously fiddling with her hair.

Fíli shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. But the fact that's he doing this now, when we're so close... and I saw him talking to Uncle earlier, and he looked far too serious and unhappy for it to be a conversation about something as meaningful as this. It's just... not that I'm saying that you don't deserve it," he assured her hastily. "Because you do. It's just that..."

"It seems like a bad sign," Elena finished knowingly. "Like preparing back-ups for a disaster, or something like that."

He sighed. "Yes. I could be wrong, and it could be nothing. It could just be that he thinks it's time you got a braid of your own - and it is, you were already trained when you joined us."

"Now that you mention it, the timing does seem a bit strange," Celia agreed reluctantly. "Like he's making the best of a bad thing - he's making sure I have official proof of my position and skill before we go take on a fire-breathing dragon, where any of us -including the leaders, who could testify to my skill - might be..." she hesitated, trying to find a word that didn't sound so final, "... incapacitated, and unable to look out for us."

"And again, it could just be nothing, and I'm just being paranoid," he admitted, forcing a smile. "I've been accused of that more than once. I'm sorry to take away from your special moment, Celia."

"No, I didn't call you paranoid, I called you a worry-wart. There's a difference," Kíli reminded his older brother. "And you have reason to be worried. We're gonna be facing a dragon soon, and there's an orc pack on our tail. You're just... looking for danger in everything. It's one of the signs of a good leader, to be on the lookout for things that may be a sign of future danger."

"There, you see?" Celia suggested. "You did as best as you could with the information you had. And, I can't speak for my sister, but I'm personally inclined to be grateful you told us. Even if we can't really do anything with it right now, at least we can look for signs that they're worried about something happening, or that they're planning something, or something like that."

"Planning? Planning what? For Óin to retire?" her sister teased. "Nah, I agree with my sister." She smiled at Fíli, though it was more of a serious smile than one filled with humor. "Thanks for telling us, even if we didn't really learn anything. If nothing else, we're your friends, and you can always tell us if you're worried about something - that's what friends are there for. To listen to you, offer advice, just plain be there for you if you need it."

He nodded. "Thank you."

"Elena, you haven't been exerting yourself, have you?" Óin's voice came carrying up to them from the doorway. The older healer appeared a moment later, a bowl and some bandages in hand. His sharp eyes flickered around its four occupants before settling on Elena. "Good. I managed to find some athelas and put together a paste. Has your arm been bothering you any more? And have any of your symptoms changed either way?"

Elena shook her head, holding out her arm for Óin to look at. "I don't feel sick any more, but my arm's the same. And I still feel hot, though less so than I did when I woke up. But tell it to me straight, Doc. Will I be able to play musical instruments after this?"

Óin leveled her with a look that said he knew exactly what she was trying to do. Rather than saying anything right away, he merely began to spread the paste into her wound, coating it liberally before beginning to wrap it with a clean bandage. "That depends," he said at last. "Are you able to play musical instruments with only one hand?"

Celia snorted. "Looks like some jokes are the same no matter what world you're in. Should we do anything else? Make her drink lots of water, eat something? Oh, and what about Bilbo? Is he doing any better? Kíli said he was sniffling and sneezing earlier."

"Why don't you come down and see?" Óin offered. "You can come see for yourselves, and it won't hurt Elena to take a trip downstairs, if she can relax in front of the fire. It might do her some good, I have some tea waiting down there for her, as well." He smirked. "I promise, everyone's clothes have dried off, and they're all fully dressed. We're just waiting for Bard to come back with our weapons now."

Elena nodded. "Sure." She covered up a yawn. "As long as they're okay with me falling asleep on them. I don't know how long I slept, but it doesn't feel like enough."

"It's easily been a couple hours," Celia informed her, standing up. "My hair's almost completely dry, and that normally takes several hours if I leave it to dry naturally."

"And none of us got much sleep in the prison cells last night," Fíli recalled, offering Elena a hand up. "We were all waiting on Bilbo to show up. And then you got shot, and lost a fair bit of blood. It only makes sense that you'd be tired, especially if you're starting to come down with something, like the others."

She wrinkled her nose at him as they made their way downstairs, Fíli and Celia coordinating their efforts to make sure she didn't slip and fall for some reason. The others had congregated in the living room in front of the fire, some of them, like Bilbo and Dori - and Ori, at his brother's insistence - still wearing their blankets, and clutching a steaming mug in their hands. Bilbo's cheeks were as red as Elena's as he looked up at them, though he managed a smile at seeing her up and about.

"As you can see, I seem to have caught a chill from the lake waters," he said, raising his mug in the air briefly. "I have been thoroughly reminded why hobbits are not meant to swim."

Elena chuckled as she was gently set down beside him and covered in a blanket of her own while Óin set off to grab a cup for her, Celia and the princes sitting down nearby. "At least now you'll have an interesting story to tell?" she tried. "You can tell the fauntlings all about how you went swimming in the waters of Lake-town and survived."

"Yes, because that's clearly the most interesting part of the story to tell," he said dryly. "And not the part where my house was invaded by thirteen hungry dwarves with the table manners of trolls."

"Hey! I resent that remark!"

"You resemble it, you mean."

"We should be able to leave soon," Bofur informed them, coming over and plopping down beside them. "Bard should hopefully be returning with our weapons soon, and then we can get going. Durin's Day is only growing closer, not farther." He peered at Elena's bandaged arm. "You feelin' all right there, lass?"

She smiled at the miner. "A bit hot, but I'll survive." She looked up as Óin arrived and handed her a steaming mug with a stern inflection to drink all of its contents. "And, of course, everyone seems determined to just make me hotter." She gestured to the blanket, mug, and the fire in front of them before taking a sip of her tea. "At least the tea is good," she admitted. "It could use a fair bit of sugar or honey to sweeten it, but it's not that bad, considering it's basically medicine."

"You have to admit, though. Medicinal drinks usually have a pretty low standard when it comes to flavor," Celia pointed out. "Particularly cough syrup. They said it was grape flavored." She shook her head, remembering her mother struggling to get her to swallow the syrup when she was younger. "It was not grape flavored."

"I'm pretty sure I've accidentally eaten food left out for three days that tasted better than that syrup," Elena shuddered, sticking her tongue out in disgust at the memory. "There's no way that that was grape flavored."

Kíli looked between the two of them and shook his head with a laugh. "At least here all our medicines were sweetened with honey. It would seem that you were never that fortunate?"

"No, we always -" Elena cut herself off as Bard pushed open the door, a wet tarp folded over to hold some heavy items in his hands. He strode over to the table and laid it down, revealing several hand-made weapons as the dwarves gathered around, although some - like Kíli, who had his bow, and Dori, who was far more interested in his tea - stayed farther back.

"What is this?" Thorin asked, gingerly picking up a long hook on a stick.

"Pike-hook. Made from an old harpoon," Bard explained.

"And this?" Fíli frowned, picking up a stick with a heavy metal square on top.

"A crowbill, we call it, fashioned from a smithy's hammer. It's heavy in hand, I grant, but in defense of your life, these will serve you better than none."

Thorin shook his head, exchanging a look of disgust with Dwalin.

"We paid you for weapons. Iron-forged swords and axes!" Glóin exclaimed angrily.

"It's a joke," Bofur scoffed, dropping his weapon back on the table, instigating the others to do the same.

"You won't find better outside the city armory. All iron-forged weapons are held there under lock and key," Bard pointed out, keeping his cool.

"Well, thank you for looking for us," Elena raised her voice to be heard over the noise, sounding rather displeased. "I know that we never told you the specific weapons we needed, and that you did the best you could, considering you had no way of accessing the other weapons. And, because I am grateful for all that you've done for us when you didn't have to, I'm going to say thank you. Again. Because that's the polite thing to do."

"Annnd, I think that you need more sleep," Celia said quietly in the silence that followed, struggling to hide her smile. "Pardon me, Master Bard, but I'm going to bring my sister back upstairs for the time being. Thank you for offering your home to us. I'm well aware you didn't have to. Come on, El." Ignoring Bard's amused smile when he nodded, she waited until Elena had finished her drink before hefting her to her feet and helping her now-sleepy sister back up the stairs and into their room.

Elena huffed as she curled back up on the bed. "They were being rude," she pouted as she pulled the blankets up to her chin. "They had no reason to treat him like that."

"Oh, I know," Celia agreed as she stirred the coals in the fireplace, trying to bring up some more heat. "I just still had some of my inhibitions and anti-confrontation in me. You've always been better at it than me. If it helps, I think I heard Fíli apologizing, and a couple others. Although, to be fair to Fíli, he had been looking like he meant to apologize before you started off," she said, watching her sister for a reaction.

Elena nodded drowsily. "Wouldn't surprise me. He's very sweet."

Celia hid her smile. "Really?"

"Mm-hm. He looked out for me when we were wandering in the forest, and made sure I never strayed too far, and was pretty concerned about me in Thranduil's dungeons, too. And obviously, you know, the river." She yawned, her eyes starting to flicker shut. "I like him. Can we keep him?"

"Uh... I'll see what I can do about that, El."

She would ask what her sister found so funny later. In the meantime, the chance to sleep again was much more tempting, so she didn't bother opening her eyes again the next time they closed. She never got the chance to find out what Celia thought was so funny.

Later, though, she would find out that Fíli had been right. Thorin and Óin had been planning something - and none of them liked it.

* * *

 **A/N: Ugh. You ever have one of those days where you just feel completely unmotivated? Because I had that day today. It was supposed to be the first day of Spring. But, because of where I live, we had a wet, snowy, muddy, drizzly day that did not look at all like Spring - just Winter hanging on. Is anyone else more than ready for Spring to be here?**

 **I know not much happened this chapter, but it's basically the calm before the storm, so... *shrugs* Enjoy it while you can. :)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, SortingHat, ColdOnePaul, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Haha, yep! Fíli and Elena are finally starting to get their act together (more on that later) but Celia and Kíli seem to be taking their sweet time... or are they? *Evil grin* No Master this chapter, but he should be showing up in all his obese greasiness next chapter. And don't worry - there will be very firm words regarding Elena and Celia's status. :D Thanks for reviewing. Hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Lots of people seemed to enjoy the cuddles. :D There may be more of those to come later. ;) Little bit of teasing here, more to come, because what else are siblings for? There is definite significance to Celia getting the braid, but no comment as to why yet... ;) Thanks for reviewing! Hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **SortingHat: Um... I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion, but no. I referenced the girls watching TV in chapter 1, and that's something that I don't believe the Amish do. Elena and Celia have not been, are not, and will never be Amish. (I mean no offense to the Amish or their way of life when I write that, simply that I will not be using that as a plotline in my story). Hope that cleared it up! Thanks for reviewing! :)**_

 ** _ColdOnePaul: Oh, yes... I have much planned when it comes to Smaug... there will be just a hint of screaming, there, and, of course, things not going according to plan. :D Thanks for reviewing! Hope you liked it!_**

 ** _E: Of course! And gentle reminder that I've never explicitly said that someone in the Company will die. Yes, there's a chance that I could kill one of them off in a dramatic, heartbreaking way, but there's an equal chance that Azog will be the only one in the entire battle to die, and everyone else miraculously survives. :D My point being, I love hinting vaguely at things, but there's a good chance that most, if not all, of the Company will survive the battle. :D I've cried at far too many a good (depressing) story to give mine a sad ending. And yep! The sequel has been an idea I've had since shortly after I first started writing this story, and it should revolve around the LOTR story arc, although I can almost guarantee it won't be like what you're thinking. ;D There was definitely some planning going on, but Elena is not privy to it yet. :( Maybe next chapter... And Celia definitely earned her braid. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, but Celia and Elena are all mine.**


	35. Chapter 35 - Confessions

~~ Celia ~~

Celia spent the remainder of the day with her sister while she slept, preferring to be right there so she could check on her if something where to change. Besides, it's not like they were doing anything interesting downstairs, anyways. They had to wait until dark at least before they could do anything, although she wasn't quite sure what Thorin had planned.

Either way, at least some of them had their weapons - her, her sister, Dwalin, Kíli, and Ori for sure. Her uncle had his sword, she knew, and she was sure that Fíli and Nori had knives hidden on them somewhere as well.

She looked out the window and caught sight of the Lonely Mountain in the distance, pale and cold in the light of the setting sun, with no sign of the fire-breathing dragon that lay within. She shuddered at the thought and began to pace around the room, wringing her hands together nervously.

Things were becoming very, very real now, and she was starting to realize just how dreadfully unprepared they were. They were going to take on a live dragon, with just fifteen dwarves and a hobbit - armed with the One Ring. Because that definitely wouldn't stand out to a dragon who was extremely clever, and most likely would be able to at least sense the power in it, if not what it actually was.

And all that aside, there was the whole issue of Thorin's gold-madness, and his subsequent attempt to kill Bilbo and banishment. And then the elves came, and almost started a war with everyone's stupid prejudices and greed, and then there was a real war started, and then the Durins died.

She stopped short at the thought, hands flying up to bury themselves in her hair as she clutched at her head. The Durins were going to die. But they weren't just the Durins, a faceless set of names with little to no emotions attached. Not anymore.

It was Thorin, the dwarf who'd taken the time to braid her hair for her, because she didn't know how. The guardian who'd taken them in and let them come along, when he would have been well within his rights to leave them there.

The brother who'd grieved along with her when she thought she'd lost her sister, back in the Misty Mountains. The leader who'd stepped in and given up his own portions of food because Bilbo genuinely needed it, and he refused to let him starve when he could handle hunger better. The warrior who'd been brave enough to admit that he was wrong, and apologize for his mistakes.

It was Fíli, one of the first dwarves to welcome them to the Company wholeheartedly, who'd accepted Bilbo as he was without quarrel. The joker who hid a quiet maturity behind his easygoing nature.

The protector who'd always placed himself first whenever danger presented itself, while shielding them wherever possible. The friend who cared for them both, but had grown closest to Elena. The dwarf who had a special smile he reserved only for her sister, and another he used when he thought she wasn't looking.

And it was Kíli, who she openly admitted had become her best friend while on the journey, in a different way than she had with Fíli and Elena. The prankster who sought only to make others laugh, while never trying to humiliate or hurt them. The guard who'd wrapped himself around her in an effort to protect her from hitting the mountain, when they'd thought the Stone Giants were going to crush them.

The one who'd carried her for almost six days while she was asleep. The dwarf who'd been by her side from the beginning, wiped the tears from her eyes when she'd sobbed over her sister, hugged her when she didn't think she could take it anymore, and stood by her, quietly watchful in every confrontation. The one who'd rooted himself in her heart somehow, so deeply that she didn't think he'd ever come out with breaking something irreparable.

It wasn't just the dwarf king who fell facing Azog, it was the dwarf she'd come to respect and admire, lying bleeding out on the ground, knowing his nephews were dead.

It wasn't just the dwarf heir, who'd been killed by Azog and dropped down a ravine, it was Fíli. The dwarf who'd promised her sister he'd look out for her, who could make her sister smile and blush with just a smile of his own.

And it was Kíli, her best friend, who'd started sending her a few special smiles of his own, who was so blinded by grief that he was struck down by Bolg in a desperate battle.

She groaned and dropped to the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest and burying her nails in her head, ignoring the pain it brought. They were nearly at the mountain, and they still had barely even thought about how they were really going to save the Durins.

And what about Smaug? He was going to attack Lake-town. People were going to die. And they knew that ahead of time. Which would make them partially responsible for their deaths, if they did nothing.

But how would they even be able to warn them? Who would believe them? And if they did, who's to say that they wouldn't just lock up the dwarves and keep them from going to the mountain, to prevent them from rousing the dragon?

Of course, if that happened, that would cause a whole other load of problems. Like, Smaug not being dead, and then potentially allying with Sauron, which would be catastrophic. Or him rousing anyways, and killing everyone in the Company when he descends on Lake-town.

She squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her ears, trying to block out the horrifying images suddenly racing through her head. She bit her lip, forcing down the bile that threatened to rise at the thought of everyone in the Company, all the friends she's made, dying because of something she did.

She couldn't do that - she wouldn't. She _refused_ to let them die.

A gentle hand placed itself over hers and she flinched instinctively, opening her eyes warily to see Kíli kneeling in front of her, a worried look on his face. He brought his free hand up to lay over her other hand, clasping her cold hands in his warm ones before slowly lowering them from her ears, turning them around to cup her fingers in his.

"Celia? What's wrong?"

She swallowed hard, casting her gaze down to the floor and trying desperately to keep her eyes from watering. "Nothing. I'm fine."

He scoffed. "Maybe that'd be a little bit more believable if you weren't clutching my hands like I'm about to disappear. You should know me better than to think I'll believe that by now," he reprimanded her gently. "Now, what's actually wrong?" She winced, starting to pull her hands out of his, only for him to reclaim his grip. "I never said for you to stop. I'm your friend, Celia. If what you need right now is someone to hold your hand, I'll hold your hand."

She sniffed, raising her eyes up to glare at him, her lips jutting out into a pout. "You need to stop doing that."

He raised an eyebrow. "Doing what? Being a friend? Looking out for my best friend? Because I'm just gonna be upfront and tell you, I'm not going to stop."

"See, that's what I'm talking about!" she exclaimed vehemently. "That right there! You need to stop being so nice!"

"... Dare I ask why?"

She stared at the ground again stubbornly. "Because you're making me like you, and I don't want to like you this much! It would just... it would just..." Her voice faded away, leaving her words hanging awkwardly in the air.

"It would just what? What's wrong with liking me?" Kíli asked quietly, trying to meet her anxious eyes with his worried ones. "What are you trying to say?" His face was worried, but his tone was soft - cautious, even.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes tight in an attempt to gather her courage before opening them again, meeting his eyes for the first time. "Kíli, we're about to go face a dragon. A dragon who would love nothing more than to set us all on fire as soon as he saw us. And we're being hunted by an orc pack. It's bad enough that Bilbo and Elena are going to be going, and then Óin, and Bofur, and Fíli, and then you... You're my best friend! So many people who I could lose forever in just a few days."

Her eyes wandered to a spot over his shoulder, her eyes distant as she suddenly clutched his hands tight. "There's so many things that could go wrong - so many things that will. And just because things went all right the first time, doesn't mean that they will now. Elena and I weren't here before - there's no guarantee that she'll be all right. Or you guys!

"Things could have changed by our being here, and you could end up being killed. The idea was bad enough to think about back when we hardly knew you, but now that I care about all of you, it's - I can't -" She huffed in frustration and pulled her hands from Kíli's to bury them in her hair once more. To her surprise, he let her.

"So what you're saying," he mused in a thoughtful tone, "is that you don't want to see us burned to a crisp. You know, I think that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

She pulled her hands away from her head to stare at him incredulously, noticing indignantly the way he was suppressing laughter. "Yes, you idiot! Of course I don't want to see you hurt! I'm a healer!"

He shook his head sadly. "And to think we were on such a nice track," he mourned. Dropping the act, he sat up straight and looked her in the eye. "Celia. I say this with the utmost fondness and complete understanding, but you're being ridiculous right now."

She drew back to do something - sputter indignant rebuttals, glare him into submission, or something equally unlikely - but froze when she suddenly found herself wrapped in a warm embrace.

"You're my best friend too," he reminded her, his voice quiet. "Fíli's my brother, and I've seen how much Elena means to both of you, aside from how much of a friend she is to me. Both of us have uncles that are more like fathers to us going in there, where they're likely, knowing our luck, to come face to face with Smaug. Actually, it might be sheer stubbornness on Uncle's part, but still. Do you think I'm not terrified of losing someone - everyone - that I care about in that mountain?"

He drew back a little to look at her, clutching her shoulders while she stared at him with wide eyes. "I have no personal draw to Erebor. I grew up with everyone I cared about in the Blue Mountains, and I was happy enough there. I came on this quest because Uncle was going, and I wasn't about to let him go alone. The Blue Mountains were my home, but Erebor is his. Almost everyone that I'm really concerned about is going in that mountain with me. And I'm terrified out of my mind that I'm going to lose someone I care about desperately for the sake of a rock -whether it's the Arkenstone, or the mountain itself."

He softened his grip a little and sighed, losing some of the fire that seemed to have possessed him. "But I have to keep going. And I have to look on the bright side. Yes, we could all die, but we could also all _not_ die. Smaug could have died in his sleep, and we'll reclaim the mountain without a fight, or we'll kill him without any losses. I mean, we're in a town that's literally built over a deep lake. We could trip going down the stairs, fall into the lake, and drown. Does that mean we should just huddle up here by the wall for the rest of our lives?"

The question was rhetorical, but Celia dutifully answered anyways. "No." Then she shot him a glance with a hint of her usual mischief. "The wood could rot and collapse. We should move to the middle of the plains somewhere. That way we can see everything that's coming, and there's nothing that could come out of nowhere and kill us."

Kíli shot her a deadpan look. "Well, hello there, Paranoia. I thought you looked familiar." He shook his head. "My point is, yes, we're going into a dangerous situation. But the entire journey here has been dangerous, and we've all survived so far. We can't go into this thinking we're going to lose. Every day brings something new, and it's better to meet it hoping for the best, rather than assuming the worst. Look, I get where you're coming from, I really do. All of us do. Fíli and Elena are scared of the same things. So's Thorin. So's Bilbo. So how about we all just agree to look out for each other?" he suggested.

"After all, with everyone being all paranoid, we should make great look-outs for the others. You can protect me from the dragon, and I'll protect you from the tiny spiders barely the size of my pinky that cross your boot while you're walking."

Celia immediately raised her voice in protest, although the flush in her cheeks betrayed her. "It was easily the size of my hand! At least! And it could have been poisonous! We were in Mirkwood, you know!"

He shook his head in amusement. "Yeah, but your hand is barely the size of my pinky, Celia," he pointed out. He lifted her hand into the air and then matched it up with his for comparison. And while his example was a bit extreme, his hand literally dwarfed hers.

"It wasn't even trying to bite you - it just happened to crawl across your boots as it was trying to cross the path while you were standing still. It was probably far more scared of you than you were of it, jumping around and screaming the way you were," he teased.

Celia crossed her arms and pouted, although a distant part of her mind silently acknowledged and applauded Kíli's skill at putting her at ease again, without once making her feel like a fool for her worries - about the dragon, at least. Spiders, on the other hand... "I happened to know there were poisonous spiders in Mirkwood, _and_ I was almost killed by one when I was little. I think I'm entitled to a little fear."

"I would certainly agree with you, if you'd actually showed just a 'little fear'," Kíli returned. "But I hardly think that shrieking 'Kill it! Kill it!' over and over at the top of your lungs while removing your boot and throwing it as far down the path as possible counts as a 'little fear'."

Celia stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed haughtily. "Don't sully my story with facts," she rebuked him. "Spiders in Middle Earth are literally the spawn of Ungoliant. I rest my case."

"What case?" Celia stiffened at the new voice before realizing it was Fíli, standing in the doorway and staring down at the two of them on the floor, a bemused expression on his face. "Do I even want to know what you two were doing? What kind of devious plots were you cooking up just now?"

"Only the best, as per the usual," Kíli said cockily, getting to his feet and pulling Celia up with him. "Celia needed a hug, and I'm the best hug-giver around, so..." He shrugs like it was obvious.

"Oh?" Fíli raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Because I think Dwalin needs a hug - why don't you go give him one? It might put him in a better mood."

Kíli scoffed. "Because I like my face the way it is, thank you very much. If it gets rearranged too much, I could end up looking like you, and that's something I'd rather avoid, if at all possible." He nudged his brother with his shoulder.

Celia skipped neatly out of the way of the brief ensuing wrestle and headlock, waiting patiently until things had calmed down to speak, a smile lifting the edges of her lips. "If you children are done, I'm assuming you had a reason you came in here?" She winced at a sudden realization and turned to Kíli apologetically. "You didn't have an important message when you found me, did you?"

To her relief the dark-haired prince shook his head. "I just wanted to see how you were doing, and if you wanted someone to talk to."

"I do, actually," Fíli said apologetically. "Sorry. We're leaving. As soon as possible. I'm to gather you lot, and get you downstairs. Is it all right if we wake Elena up? Will she be well enough to travel?"

As it turned out, she was well enough to travel - and grumpy enough at being woken up that she hit Fíli in the face with her pillow when he jostled her shoulder. Her fever had gone down, and her eyes sparkled mischievously as she stared unrepentantly at the complaining prince.

The jocular mood quickly faded as they rejoined the group downstairs, where Thorin was waiting impatiently for them. "Good. We leave, we get our weapons, we go," he said briefly, in a tone that brooked no dispute. Everyone quietly gathered up their things, Celia and Kíli slinging their bows and quivers over their shoulders before heading to the back door, where Bain tried to stop them.

"Wait, please," he pleaded. "It's not safe! The house is being watched, you can't just leave!"

"Just try and stop us, laddie," Dwalin said curtly, pushing past him and leading the way out the back door, silently followed by the others.

Celia, at the back of the group, stopped by him, feeling bad for the boy who had only been following orders. "Tell your da thank you for us, please," she requested quietly. "And tell him I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to be like this." She looked him in the eye and waited until he nodded in understanding before following the group.

Once they were outside, they crept along the walkways in silence, dodging behind various objects in their efforts to hide from the watchmen. Someone - that was not Thorin, judging by the fact that they didn't get lost - seemed to know the route to the armory, and they managed to reach the tall building without being found out, although there were a few close calls.

"As soon as we have the weapons, we make straight for the mountain. Go!" Thorin whisper-shouted as soon as they verified the area as being clear of watchmen.

Celia and Elena pressed themselves against the far side of the group as the rest of them piled up against the wall underneath an open second floor window. At a signal from Thorin, Nori took a running leap and, boosted by the steady hands of the group, practically flew towards the window. Bilbo went next, although he was clearly not at all thrilled to be doing so.

After a few minutes, several of the dwarves were inside, and gathering up weapons for the trek to the mountain, while the rest kept an anxious watch outside. Since Kíli had no injured leg, it seemed as though there would be nothing to attract attention this time. But that was not to be.

One moment, all was silent in the night, and the next, a terrible crash rent the air. Celia closed her eyes as the shouts of watchmen filled the night, all running towards the source of the sound. Some of them tried to run, but when Celia had opened her eyes, they were surrounded by guards holding pikes.

Not even bothering to draw her bow - not that she wanted to use it anyways - she held her hands up in surrender, her sister doing the same. Elena winced as the motion drew at her still-healing arm, and lowered it slightly in an attempt to lessen the strain as they were surrounded. Celia winced as one of the guards roughly ripped her quiver and bow off her arm, and turned to glare at the man.

"Dude, I wasn't resisting! You didn't have to be so rough!" she complained, torn between rubbing at the back of her hair, where some of her hair had been pulled, or her shoulder, which was now aching. "I wasn't even trying to draw it!"

The man sneered at her before patting down her sides in a quick search for more weapons, then placing a hard grip on her arm and jerking her towards the others, who had all received the same treatment, more or less. "And can you let go?" she snapped, trying to jerk her arm out of his grip. "I'm not going to run."

A cry from her left made her whip her head around. Another one of the guards was bringing Elena along by the arm - her left arm, and judging by the pallor of her skin, it was directly over her wound. "Let me go! I'm injured there, please, just take my other arm, I don't care, just let go! You're hurting me," she pleaded, arm clawing fruitlessly at his iron grip.

Celia clenched her hands into fists, straining against her captor's grip at the sight. The dwarves who hadn't been distracted by their own struggles were incensed at the willfully harmful treatment, and renewed their struggles, only ceasing when the weapons were leveled at their throat. Fíli and Kíli, in particular, looked murderous, and Bilbo rendered what looked like an incredible painful kick to his captor's leg that left him limping for the rest of the trip.

The commotion began to attract the attention of the townsfolk, and by the time they had arrived at the Master's mansion, there was a sizeable gathering behind them. Elena had ceased her struggles, and fallen silent when it became obvious that there was to be no relief, but a few tears that she had no control over had made their way down her face, staining her cheeks and causing Fíli to stiffen and silently snarl each time he saw them.

As they grew closer to the mansion, a small man dressed in all black with extremely pale skin peered out the front door, his greasy black hair falling over his wide eyes as he took in the commotion before disappearing.

A moment later, the chief guard, identified as Braga, had arranged them all in front of the doors, and a stern look had Elena released, and she nearly collapsed to the ground in relief. Fíli immediately pulled himself free and darted over to her, lifting her up and letting her rest against him as he glared at the guard.

As two guards pulled open the front door of the mansion, a tall, overweight man with stringy red hair roughly arranged into a comb-over and a mustache stormed out, still struggling to put on his coat.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, in the voice of one used to being obeyed - but without the quiet dignity that Thorin and the elvish lords possessed.

"We caught 'em stealing weapons, sire," Braga announced, stepping forward.

The Master nodded sagely. "Ah. Enemies of the state, then."

"This is a bunch of mercenaries if ever there was, Sire," Alfrid agreed in his nasally voice.

Dwalin shoved off his guard and stomped forward angrily. "Hold your tongue. You do not know to whom you speak. This is no common criminal; this is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror!" He gestured to his king as Thorin stepped forward and the crowd began to murmur in amazement.

"We are the dwarves of Erebor," Thorin announced, every inch of him regal and commanding as the crowd whispered in shock and recognition, some of them craning their necks in an effort to see better.

"We have come to reclaim our homeland. I remember this town and the great days of old. Fleets of boats lay at harbor, filled with silks and fine gems. This was no forsaken town on a lake! This was the center of all trade in the North," he reminded them, his voice earnest. "I would see those days return. I would relight the great forges of the dwarves and send wealth and riches flowing once more from the halls of Erebor!"

The people began to cheer and clap at this, talking excitedly, while the Master nodded calculatingly. He may have been a greedy fop, but Celia could tell just by watching him that he was calculating what he could gain from this. But the cheer didn't last when a deep, angry voice rang out over the crowd, drawing silence.

"Death! That is what you will bring upon us. Dragon-fire and ruin. If you awaken that beast, it will destroy us all!" Bard shouted, striding towards them. And the mood of the people, ever fickle, began to change as anxious whispers began to fly about.

Thorin smirked and merely raised his voice louder. "You can listen to this naysayer, but I promise you this; If we succeed, all will share in the wealth of the mountain. You will have enough gold to rebuild Esgaroth ten times over!" he promised, turning the tide once more in their favor as the people began to applaud eagerly, and the Master smiled and nodded, pleased with that turn of events.

"All of you! Listen to me! You must listen! Have you forgotten what happened to Dale?!" Bard demanded desperately. "Have you forgotten those who died in the firestorm?"

There was a resounding 'no' from the people.

"And for what purpose? The blind ambition of a mountain-king so riven by greed, he could not see beyond his own desire!" He glared at Thorin, who returned it in kind, the muttering of the people setting an eerie backdrop until the Master stepped forward.

"Now, now, we must not, any of us, be too quick to lay blame. Let us not forget that it was Girion, Lord of Dale, your ancestor, who failed to kill the beast!" He pointed a chubby finger accusingly at Bard, only encouraging the clamor of the crowd as Thorin stared at him in shock and anger.

Celia rolled her eyes. So one man failed to kill a dragon that literally hundreds of other people failed to kill also. Shocker.

"It's true, Sire. We all know the story: arrow after arrow he shot, each one missing its mark." Alfrid sneered at Bard while simultaneously buttering up the Master.

Bard looked around in defeat, knowing he'd lost the crowd as they began to yell at him. He stepped up to Thorin and said something to him quietly, his face hard. Thorin merely glared coolly at him and returned the favor before turning to face the Master, the people quieting down as he spoke.

"I speak to the Master of the men of the Lake. Will you see the prophecy fulfilled? Will you share in the great wealth of our people? What say you?"

The Master thought for several seconds, as if he hadn't already decided, then beamed and pointed a welcoming, if fleshy, finger at Thorin. "I say unto you... welcome! Welcome and thrice welcome, King under the Mountain!" He threw his arms open wide as the people began to cheer and hug each other ecstatically.

Thorin climbed up a few steps and turned to face the audience, before engaging in a silent face-off with Bard. When his eyes met Celia's, she mouthed an apology to him as best as she could, biting her lip when he just turned away.

Once they were all free, Celia reclaimed her weapons with glee from the now-sheepish guard, before strolling over to the guard who'd held Elena, tapping on his arm to get his attention. When he'd turned around, she swung her boot into his leg, just above the knee as hard as he could, taking a rare sadistic pleasure from the pain in his expression as his leg buckled. She ducked back out of the way before he could react, although Kíli had taken the time to step up beside her, his expression hard.

"Next time you decide to mistreat an innocent injured woman who's not resisting and begging you to stop, make sure she doesn't have people who care about her first. In fact, make sure I never hear about it. Because I _will_ hunt you down," Celia snarled.

"I won't kill you, don't worry - that goes against my morals, something which you seem to lack, along with brains. But I have a _much_ looser moral barrier when it comes to shooting you in the kneecap. Or other places. I'm a healer, and that means I know exactly where I can hurt you most without killing you." She stuck her head close to the guard's, still trying to catch his breath as he clutched his knee. "Stay away from my sister. Or I can _guarantee_ you that I will not be the only one out for your blood."

* * *

 **A/N: So, who thought that there was going to be a love confession this chapter? Anyone? :D We came close to it, at least. And then we just got ticked off Celia. *shrugs* Any other reactions will come in the next chapter, including Elena's, and Fíli's. :D**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Actually, I don't think the Master was too bad this chapter (Next chapter? Eh, maybe. We'll see). It was more the guard. (At least Celia got some revenge this chapter) And tbh, I feel kind of bad for Bard right now. Thorin's being a jerk, and Bard is rightfully concerned about protecting his people. Thanks for reviewing! Hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2 : Thanks! Elena is growing ever so slightly fond of our dear blonde prince. ;D I'm glad to see you're enjoying it, and I hope you like this one! :)**_

 _ **E: Moi? Playing matchmaker? *shocked face* Why ever would I do such a thing? What on earth makes you think that? *Ignores everything even slightly romantic that happened in this chapter* Nothing too big got revealed this chapter... But there'll be at least one next chapter. At least. Thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer : I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia. (Oh, and the awful guard, but you guys can have him. I don't like him)**


	36. Chapter 36 - Encouragement

~~ Elena ~~

"Could you pass me the butter?"

Elena reached for the plate, then sat back in silent resignation as another hand reached the plate first, pushing it down towards the dwarf who'd asked for it. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes - again - before raising her eyes to meet Fíli's gaze across the table, her exasperated brown eyes matching with his far too amused blue ones.

"I wasn't even going to use my left arm!" she protested. "It's currently in a sling, my right arm is fine, and it barely uses any muscles to push a small plate down the table."

The prince just shrugged infuriatingly. "You're supposed to rest, and if you're not willing to do that, I'll make sure you do." His eyes darkened. "Your wound was healing incredibly fast for something you received only this morning, and the actions of one idiot may have set it all back." His hand clenched into a fist around the knife he was holding to cut the meat on his plate. "And not only that, he could have caused even more damage."

"Yeah..." Elena dropped her gaze, suddenly feeling glad she hadn't told him about the bruises she'd discovered on her arm when Óin and her sister had 'kidnapped' her to take a look at her arm while they waited for the feast to be prepared.

There were already dark bruises forming, roughly in the shape of a man's hand, and all centered directly around the cut on her arm. Óin had nearly had a conniption when he'd found out, and Celia had muttered something involving a process that sounded incredibly painful.

She'd barely managed to keep them from marching out and telling everyone what the guard had done, let alone from telling Fíli, and she'd only just persuaded them by reminding them of their need to reach the mountain soon - and preferably without a murder charge hanging over their heads.

And by this point, she honestly wasn't sure who it would belong to.

Maybe her sister, who had the guard flinching every time he looked her way - something that made her proud, if she had to be honest.

Or Bilbo, who'd looked murderous just from seeing the tears on her face, and had managed to hide in the crowd and deliver what sounded like an incredibly painful kick with his powerful hobbit feet (He'd been shaking his feet for a good half hour afterwards).

The blow had been attributed to a rock kicked up by everyone running around, but the guard was now somehow limping on both feet, and his face crinkled in pain every time he moved. She couldn't find it in herself to feel sorry for him.

There was a chance it could be Thorin, though she doubted he would do anything physical - it seemed beneath his dignity to interfere in a situation where he was not in a position of power to do anything about it - but the mere force of his icy glare seemed strong enough to kill. And a large portion of it was directed at the man quivering in the corner.

Or, you know, maybe it would be her, guilty of murdering all her friends and family if they _didn't. Stop. Hovering_. It was coming from a good place, but she was more than capable of moving a butter dish, thank you very much. She shifted her glare from the table to Fíli when she heard the blond sniggering, looking like he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Come on, Elena," he said, leaning forward and lowering his voice, as if it was needed amongst the rowdy crowd that surrounded them. "You can hardly say that you're surprised. Dwarves are incredibly protective of their females, even more so of their friends and family; you have an overprotective sister and adopted uncle, and you have a knack for getting into insane amounts of trouble without even trying. Or, what's worse, you do try, and it's all for an excellent reason, so we can't even yell at you for being foolish without feeling like we shouldn't be."

He glanced pointedly at her arm, where it was being held snugly against her chest by a sling. Óin had deemed it necessary to give her arm a chance to heal more thoroughly, before reapplying the paste and bandaging it once more.

He'd also muttered comments about the blindness of the race of Men before adjusting the sling so that it held comfortably, and sent her off with a stern warning to not get into any more trouble. Fíli had immediately attached himself to her, just like he had been before Óin had carted her off.

She gave in to the temptation this time, and rolled her eyes. "I don't mind having you guys be protective for the most part. It's actually kind of nice, in a place like this," she admitted sheepishly, her eyes finding Alfrid, who was currently pandering to the Master of Lake-town, neither of whom she wanted to notice her. "There are a few people I'd rather not... be alone in a room with, and it's good to know that you have my back. And like you said, no, I'm not surprised. It's hardly the first time you guys have gotten all overprotective on me. Or Celia. And even Bilbo, sometimes."

Fíli smirked. "We dwarves can be hard to win over at times," he admitted without a hint of shame. "But once we're friends, we'd take an axe for you. Bilbo managed to win over the whole Company without even trying. Especially Uncle - not many people are willing to talk to him, without caring a bit about his position, and what could be gained from it. He values the friendship Bilbo gives him. But from our point of view, we now have three people we care about who are less able to defend themselves than us, are physically weaker, and have a terrifying ability to get themselves into trouble."

Elena scoffed, using her free hand to grab a bun from her plate before biting into it, savoring the taste of fresh food after the long day before returning her attention to her friend. "We're not that bad, we're just on a dangerous quest, where dangerous things can happen. It's not our fault that they happened."

Fíli raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her, counting on his fingers the points as he enumerated them to her. "You get sucked into another world, where you're found lying unconscious on the ground, the man entrusted with your care burns down your house for the money, you come back to our world and are found unconscious _again_ , by your uncle, who was orphaned by wolves, might I add, and that all happened before we even met." He paused. "Shall I continue?"

"I'm listening," Elena said mockingly, draining the water from her glass and flinching at the taste - the sanitation process in this town left something to be desired, which was _not_ something she wanted to think about -before placing it back down and resting her chin in her hand, gazing at him with wide, brown eyes. "Please continue, this is riveting."

"I'm sure," Fíli huffed, using his other hand to mark his points this time. "Then your uncle got captured by trolls -"

"Because you and Kíli told him to get the ponies back, no doubt, and everyone else got captured by the trolls as well - except us, if I recall correctly," Elena interrupted dryly.

He threw her an offended look before continuing. "Then you and your uncle fell down a cliff and nearly died -"

"We all nearly died that day, don't just count me and Bilbo."

"Then you and your sister fell into an enchanted stream - "

"Because Celia was trying to save Bombur from falling in, and you almost fell in as well."

"Then got separated from each other, and you got bitten by a venomous spider -"

"So did everyone else -"

"And you somehow managed to befriend the Elvenking, while we're imprisoned in his dungeons, before getting shot after deliberately placing yourself in the line of fire!" Fíli ranted, sounding more and more upset as he counted off the various ways she'd gotten hurt.

Elena twisted her lips into a frown, feeling like there was another layer to what he was saying. "I didn't deliberately place myself into the line of fire, I was trying to open the gate so we could escape," she pointed out, trying to keep her voice calm. "And all of those things were things that no one could have foreseen, least of all us. They were accidents, and while yes, we could have died, we didn't - we're all still here, and alive."

Fíli shook his head, glowering at the table with a fierceness that only highlighted his similarities to his uncle as his fingers tightened around his mug. "All those times, you could have died, Elena, you're missing the point!" he exclaimed in frustration, not even noticing that his knuckles were almost white, he was holding on so tightly.

"And now, we finally arrive, and we're so close, and then that guard came along, and he hurt you while you were incapacitated! Deliberately! And I had to watch as he made you cry because you were hurting so much. I've never seen you cry before, and I couldn't even do anything about it. Now we're going on to face a dragon, and you can't even use your arm!"

He seemed more angry at himself than at her.

Realization dawned. She knew what this was now, and how to deal with it. Hopefully.

She slipped off the bench and around the table until she was next to him, sliding onto the empty space as he watched her with a confused expression. Taking his left hand with her right, she raised it to her neck.

"What - what are you doing?" he stammered, looking thoroughly confused, and fairly embarrassed, trying to pull his hand back, but giving in when she resisted.

She didn't answer at first, instead bringing his hand to the front of her neck, under her jaw. "Can you feel it? That's my pulse. It means my heart's beating. It means I'm still alive." She released his hand, and it fell from her neck as he watched her with a blank face, waiting for her to get to the point of her message as she gestured at the others in the large room filled with celebrating people. "We're all still alive, Fíli. You're not looking at it the right way. Yes, we've gone through our fair share of hardships to get here, but we've all survived. Every single one of us."

She gently pried his fingers from the mug, half surprised it hadn't broken by now. "It's not a case of 'we should have died, or came close to dying', it's a case of 'we lived!' All of these adventures that we've gone through, we've all survived. Every last one of us. I'd say that that's a pretty good indication that we're going to be all right. I mean, can you be better protected by worrying? By locking us all up in a room forever? By forever blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault?" she asked with a purposeful nudge to his shoulder. "That's no way to live life."

Fíli shook his head. "Ever the optimist, Elena."

"Not really. I'm more of a realist. Just ask Celia - she calls me a pessimist," she retorted, smiling hopefully up at him. "But when my friends start blaming themselves for things that they're not responsible for, and start being all gloomy and sad, I do tend to try and remind them of the good things in life. Or, you know, that things aren't all that bad as they seem. But I get where you're coming from, I really do."

Fíli quirked an eyebrow, seeming - not necessarily happier, but lighter, at least, than he had before. "Really?"

She smirked. "Yep. Actually, it was a bit ironic. I was asleep earlier, back at Bard's, and woke up slightly at one point. Celia was actually having a bit of a panic attack about what was coming, and before I could do anything, your brother came in and handled it beautifully. It was so adorable. Wish I could have been awake enough to pay attention to how they were sitting, I could have used the chance to draw a cute picture of them both."

Fíli nodded. "Yes, I remember coming in and seeing them sitting closer than normal." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I also seem to remember someone hitting me with a pillow when I tried to wake them up. As it turns out, it seems they were already awake."

Elena shrugged shamelessly. "I was still half asleep, like I said. And I didn't want to get up. Getting up meant leaving the warm bed and probably going outside, into the cold, wet air."

He clucked his tongue and shook his head at her. "That's just inexcusable, Elena. Before, I might have been willing to let it go. But now that I know you were acting with sound mind - well, as sound as it gets for you -" he dodged her elbow with a laugh. "There will be repercussions. Repercussions, Elena!"

He tried to sound threatening, but it was ruined by the soft look in his eyes as he poked her in the side, although they gained a worrying gleam when she shrieked and shied away. "What's this - are you ticklish, Elena?" He tried to poke her again, and was met with her hand trying desperately to slap him away. "How have I not figured this out before now?"

She'd just drawn breath to declare that she was absolutely, definitely not ticklish, and that was the reason why he'd never figured it out before, when she was interrupted by a voice that sounded similar to hers, but much colder, cutting through the din in the room.

"Don't. Don't even finish that sentence," Celia bit out from her position at the table a short distance away from the Master, her face a combination of enraged and mortified. She held up a hand in the air to stop him when he tried to speak, clearly trying to remain calm and dignified. "Please. Just... don't."

Elena glanced at Fíli, noticing the way Kíli - who sat beside her sister - had the same mixture of embarrassment and indignance in his expression, while the other dwarves around them looked to be alternately uncomfortable or displeased with whatever had been said.

Bilbo seemed about ready to burst, his face was so red, and he glared at the Master as if contemplating waltzing up there and kicking him as well. Fíli looked just as lost as she was, but then nodded to Thorin, who was about to speak.

"Lady Elena and Lady Celia are both nobility from Erebor," the dwarf leader announced in a low voice that radiated displeasure. "They are highly trained, and are traveling with us for the purpose of helping us with our mission. As such, they are to be accorded the highest respect for both their status, and their abilities."

"Ah, well, I assure you, I meant no offence!" the Master blustered, his chubby cheeks jiggling as he talked, Alfrid nodding along like a bobble-head beside him. "I merely wished to ensure that you were all being taken care of properly."

"I believe we're all doing fine, thank you very much," Celia said coldly, her voice hard enough to cut ice. "Your concern is gratifying." She inclined her head slightly in a gesture of faint - very faint - respect for his position before slipping away from the table, Kíli quickly following her.

The buzz of conversation, which had hushed when it seemed that there was a confrontation going on, rose back to normal levels quickly, and someone started a drinking song - possibly led by Bofur.

Elena exchanged a quick glance with Fíli before they wordlessly agreed to go after their clearly upset siblings. Leaving their dishes on the table, they quickly got up and hurried out of the room.

Outside, the snow was still gently falling, although it seemed to melt before hitting the ground, and the air held a mild chill to it that made Elena glad she still had her coat, as she wrapped it around herself awkwardly, unable to place it on her arm over her sling. Fíli helped her before adjusting his own coat, and then they set off to find their missing siblings.

They were a short distance away, and Celia didn't seem to be feeling the cold at all as she paced back and forth across the ground, ranting and waving her arms wildly in the air. Kíli stood off to the side, his expression watchful and his posture tense as he waited, arms crossed and offering input from time to time. His head snapped towards them as he heard them approaching, his hand falling to his dagger, but relaxed when he saw it was them.

Celia didn't even seem to realize they were there at first, still complaining about the Master, and how presumptive he was, and how dare he, what kind of person did that, and so forth.

"I didn't even hear," Elena murmured, stepping up next to Kíli. "What'd he say that got her so mad?"

Kíli's face flushed again. "It wasn't so much what he said, as it was what he implied," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Either way, it was not appreciated - by any of us, and we came out here to cool off. Well, her to cool off and rant, me to cool off and make sure she stays all right."

Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What, were you afraid she was going to fall in the water, or something?"

Kíli grimaced. "Or something."

Elena blinked, trying to understand. "But, Lake-town's happy we're here - it means we'll be getting them rich, and even if we're liars, we'll be gone tomorrow, and out of their hair. Why would they want to hurt any of us?"

Kíli squinted at her, trying to see if she was serious. When he'd determined that she was, he scoffed and shook his head, gesturing at her arm as if it were obvious. "Right. Who here would be willing to hurt an unarmed and injured dwarf girl while she pleads for them to stop? I can think of at least one right off the bat," he scowled.

Elena drew back a little in shock before her mouth dropped open as she understood. "Where's the happy dwarf who helped my sister earlier today, and reminded her to be positive?"

"He became a bit more cynical after seeing his friend be hurt for no reason," came the bitter reply. "It's good to be optimistic, but it's also wise to plan for the worst." He glanced around the area as a particularly loud yell came from the Master's mansion, where everyone had been eating. "Especially in an area where it's been clearly demonstrated how fast the public opinion can change."

Elena slung her arm around Kíli's shoulder as she watched her sister continue to rant. At this point, she didn't really need someone to talk to - just someone to talk _at_ , who could listen to her and let it all out.

"I'm okay, though, Kíli, and so's Celia," she reminded him. "It was unpleasant, sure, but there're people like that everywhere. We can't let it ruin our day. I'm fine, Celia's fine, we're all going to be fine."

~~ _Early the next morning_ ~~

"This is not fine, how is this anywhere near being fine?" Celia all but shrieked as she swung on her sister. "How are you okay with this?"

"It's all right, Cel, I actually think it might be for the best," Elena said placatingly, trying to calm her sister.

"For the best?" Celia repeated incredulously, her voice rising shrilly. "For the best? How is leaving you alone here in Lake-town while we go off to face the dragon anywhere near 'for the best?'"

* * *

 **A/N: Oops?**

 **Also, I've only implied what the Master said, but I'll leave it up to your imaginations. Suffice to say that it was insulting. To the extreme. D:**

 **I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but work, family, and a severe cold that's left me wiped has, well, wiped me out, and seems to have knocked the creativity clean out of my brain (And the knock to the head I gave myself didn't help matters, either). Thankfully, I've already started to get better, and hopefully should be back up to full speed by next week - where things should start picking up. There's a bit of business involving a dragon that should hopefully prove interesting. :)**

 **I hope you all had a great Easter!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Hahaha, yeah, that guard will regret his deeds before the dwarves leave... And Thorin definitely has jerk issues. Unfortunately, they're only going to get worse for the time being. :/ Bard definitely did not have things going well for him so far, but things should be turning around soon(er or later). Yep. The Master sucks. And I'm pretty sure that Lake-town was built by the survivors of Dale, but I'm not 100% sure about that... :/ Thanks for reviewing! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yep! Kíli's a cinnamon roll. :D I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter, and hopefully you enjoyed this one too (even though it was written when I'm half out of it). Next week's chapter should be both longer and better. Hopefully. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **E: Yep. I figured it was past time for one of them to start worrying at least a little bit about it. And Kíli is quite proud of himself. ;D And yep. The Master sucks. Everyone hates him, but, as the saying goes, needs must. No Bard this chapter, but he should be up there soon. Thanks for reviewing (It's always really motivating to see your reviews as I go to write each chapter) and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia**.


	37. Chapter 37 - Foreshadowing

~~ Celia ~~

 _She didn't see it coming._

 _That's the only thought she can manage in the midst of the blinding terror as the wind rushes past her face. She thought she'd planned it through, thought she'd planned for everything, and even when she'd jumped the gun - she thought she had it under control. Or at least, that she knew what was coming._

 _She winces as a fresh burst of heat warms her skin. This was not under control, not even remotely. Somewhere far behind her, Kíli is screaming her name, arms reaching out to her in a desperate attempt to reach her that she knows will fail. Below her, though she knows she can't really see them, she fancies she can make out the horrified face of her sister, her mouth forming her name, although she cannot hear it past the roaring in her ears. She can't see him, but she knows Fíli is there, somewhere close to her sister. She knows he'll look out for her when she can't._

 _She never thought it would be like this._

 _Dying._

 _Falling to your death as your world goes up in flames around you._

 _It's not something you really think about when you're young, and you have the world before you. Or if you do, you think of it as something far off, not to be concerned about until you're much, much older._

 _And granted, circumstances are a little bit different for her. She's thought about it a bit more than she used to - how could she not? Maybe what would happen if she got in the way of Smaug's fiery blast on accident. Or if things didn't work out quite right and she sacrificed herself in battle, interposing herself between one of her friends and a blade._

 _But despite all of that, she still couldn't quite grasp the concept of it happening so soon - happening now, as she plummets towards the ground so far beneath her. She still has a chance of survival, she tries telling herself. People have survived falls from heights similar to this. Sometimes._

 _But she's too far up._

 _And something tells her that if she reaches the end of this fall, she won't be getting back up. And she's screaming, and she can hear someone screaming her name, and she knows that Kíli is still reaching for her, and she's still falling -_

 _And then she's not._

 _Falling, that is. She's still screaming as claws wrap around her waist, hoisting her up in the air as they dig into her ribs so tight she can barely draw a breath, cutting her scream off sharply. She can hear Smaug's laughter rumbling above her as he releases another stream of fire into the air. He makes a show of pretending to drop her before circling above and dropping her once more, relishing in her terror as she falls, in the pain in the voices screaming her name. And this time, he won't stop her._

 _She should have seen this coming_.

 _It's her last thought before she hits and her world goes dark around her._

xXx

Celia stood silently by the docks as she waited with the rest of the Company, thoughts still focused on the horrific dream she'd had earlier. Was it a premonition? A warning? Or just a bad dream now that they were finally coming close to reaching the goal and facing Smaug?

She tried to shake her dark thoughts off. Everyone was fine. Elena was there, with her sling holding her arm close to her chest, and a little bit paler than normal, but she looked otherwise fine. A few of the dwarves seemed a bit hungover, there was no sign of Bofur, and Óin looked incredibly put out; but everyone was fine, and the morning seemed to be going great.

At least, until Thorin opened his mouth.

"You need to stay here, Elena. We need to travel with speed, and have all our warriors fully capable of battle. You will only slow us down, and we will be distracted if we need to look out for you."

"What are you talking about?" Elena frowned, only taking him half seriously. "My arm's been healing extraordinarily fast, Óin mentioned it himself. It'll take a few days to get there anyways, and I should be fully healed by then. And even if it's not, I know how to defend myself with just one hand!"

Thorin shook his head. "No. You need to stay here, and rest. Join us when you're healed. Óin will stay here with you to look after you."

"What?" Celia, who had been watching the whole time in disbelief, managed to find her voice. "Why would - no! If Elena's staying here, then I'm staying with her!"

"Unfortunately, that won't be possible. You and your sister are randir. And your mission is related to Erebor. If your sister is staying here, then we will need you with us. Your skills as a healer may also be needed as well."

"Óin could do that just as well, and probably much better, than I could, and it'd be much easier if Elena were with us!" Celia hissed, trying to remain calm amidst the panic threatening to rise up in her at the prospect of being separated from her sister _again_ barely a day after being reunited. "She knows as much as I do, and she's strong enough to keep up with us. We'll be traveling by boat for a day or two anyways, how could she possibly slow us down?"

Thorin met her gaze with a stern look that instantly silenced any protest she might have made - at least for the time being. "When we met, I agreed to take you along on this quest if you agreed to follow my orders. Right now, my orders are that Elena is to stay here, and Celia is to come with us. Óin has agreed that you are more than capable in your healing skills, and the braid and bead you wear both testify to your skills. He will remain to look after your sister here, so you can be assured that she is in safe hands. But we don't have time to argue."

"Celia," her sister murmured, tugging on her hand and pulling her away from the group a short ways. Celia relaxed slightly from her tense pose and turned to her sister, who was staring at her calmly. "It's all right. Everything's going to be fine."

"Fine? This is not fine, how is this anywhere near being fine?" Celia all but shrieked as she swung on her sister. "How are you okay with this?"

"It's all right, Cel, I actually think it might be for the best," Elena said placatingly, trying to calm her sister.

"For the best?" Celia repeated incredulously, her voice rising shrilly. "For the best? How is leaving you alone here in Lake-town while we go off to face the dragon anywhere near 'for the best'?"

"Because this way we have someone who can work both sides," her sister told her in a hushed whisper.

Celia stared at her sister for a moment, uncomprehending. "What?"

A smile tugged at Elena's lips. "Think about it. This way, I'll be here, and I can try and evacuate Lake-town. Reduce the casualties, warn Bard, that sort of thing. Meanwhile, you're up there in Erebor with them. You can keep an eye on things, try and keep them all safe, let them know about Smaug's weak spot," she lowered her voice. "And maybe try and head off Thorin's gold sickness as well," she whispered. "Or try and keep the others from succumbing, at least."

Celia bit her lip, not wanting to admit that she had been worrying about just that. "Well, maybe it could be useful," she agreed reluctantly. "But El, I just got you back! And now we're leaving again, and Smaug's going to attack Lake-town! And you'll be here!"

The smile fell from Elena's face. "Yeah. And you're going to attack him in his home. I think that there's a fair amount of risk either way. But me staying here means that I can try and get people to leave, if possible. Maybe hide out in Dale, or something. The ruins should be safe enough, as long as they stay low - I don't think Smaug would look there for them, or anything. I can give Bard a head's up where to look, maybe we can kill him sooner. Or maybe you can kill him while you're still in Erebor, and none of this will be needed. And at least this way we can say a proper goodbye."

Celia huffed and rolled her eyes before hugging her sister tight, burying her face into her neck like she used to when they were children. "Once all this is over, I'm going to make Thorin regret this. Not now, when he's on the brink. But later, after it's all over with. 'Slow us down', my foot," she grumbled. "You're not an invalid, and you can walk perfectly fine."

"I know," her twin agreed, returning the hug. "And so does Thorin. But remember what Fíli said yesterday, how he was worried about Thorin having a plan? I think this is it. Or part of it, maybe. Óin knew I was staying behind. And maybe that's why he gave you that braid that showed you were a healer to the royal family. So that they'd still have an official healer with them for the last leg of the quest."

Celia reluctantly pulled back out of the hug. "It's not fair, El! Erebor was supposed to be for you to see, too."

"I know. But look on the bright side," her sister argued. "When it's all said and done, I'll still be able to see Erebor for the first time, it'll just be a little bit later than you did. And we won't say goodbye, remember."

Celia gave a small, somewhat forced smile. "Only see you soon."

Taking her sister's arm, she rejoined the group, where Fíli was arguing with his uncle, and Kíli stood off to the side with his arms crossed, an unhappy look on his face. The boats had been prepared by this point, and the rest of the Company was loading them up, clearly trying to pretend that they couldn't hear the argument.

"I don't understand why you refuse to let her come! This is her heritage as well, and she's scarcely an invalid! An immobilized arm will hardly affect her walking skills!"

Thorin shook his head at his nephew, a determined look on his face. "One day you will be king, and you will understand. I cannot risk the fate of this quest for the sake of one dwarf, not even my own kin. Durin's Day will soon be upon us. We cannot be slowed when Elena's arm will need to be checked every day." He leaned in closer. "And it is far safer for her, this way. Here, she will be out of reach of the dragon, and will be able to recover and rest in a safe place."

"Out of our reach, you mean!" Fíli retorted, uncaring of the looks starting to be thrown their way, although he did take care to lower his voice. "Where none of us will be able to help her if she needs it, and in a place where the Master has housed her? Surely you cannot be comfortable with her being left alone in his care! Especially after last night."

Thorin's eyes narrowed. "I have warned him that she is nobility, and that every precaution is to be taken to keep her safe. He is aware that to let her come to harm would be an insult to Erebor, and would carry grave repercussions."

Fíli snorted. "Oh, well, in that case." He stepped out of the boat and stood by Elena, crossing his arms stubbornly. "You won't mind if I stay here as well."

"Fíli, don't be a fool," his uncle warned him. "You belong with the Company."

Fíli met him with a cool gaze that marked him undeniably as a Durin. "One of the first things I learned as the future king was that I am to look out for both those I care about, and my people, and that we put their needs above our own. Elena falls under all of those categories. We'll stay here until she recuperates, and then head up with Óin. But I'm not leaving her here with the likes of the Master, or his right-hand-man," he spat. "And Amad would have my head if I did."

Kíli flinched and nodded at that last part, while Thorin reluctantly nodded in acquiescence. Bilbo stepped forward then, to hug Elena and mutter a few words in her ear, before nodding in approval at Fíli, whispering something that made him chuckle before clambering into one of the boats.

Celia wrapped Fíli up in a hug, not really sure how else to express her gratitude. "Thanks. For... what you said," she mumbled. "And for looking out for Elena when I can't." She pulled back. "Just... try and keep her from doing anything stupid, if you can, please."

Fíli grinned. "If I can. Your sister's a force to be reckoned with."

Ignoring her sister's objection, she moved on to Óin, who met her gaze evenly, but nodded in acceptance of her anger. "You knew. You knew that Thorin was planning on leaving her behind."

He nodded again. "She was injured. It was the only way we could think of to keep her behind and put her at less risk. I know you don't see it that way, and maybe you never will, but he was trying to look out for her in his own way. We'd have left you behind, too, but you were brought on this quest for a reason, and he's convinced that he'll need you up there in Erebor. Won't tell me why, though, but it must be something big if he's determined to bring you along. I won't apologize for trying to protect the two of you, but I am sorry that you'll have to be separated so soon after being reunited."

Celia lowered her gaze, some of her anger - at least at Óin - fizzling out. "I guess I understand," she admitted. "He could have worded it better, or even have just come out and said the real reason, but I understand. Just... please, tell me one thing, before I go." She brought her eyes back up to his to search for any sign of deceit. "Did I really earn this braid and bead, or was it something you just gave to me so that I'd be convinced to go with them?"

Óin pulled out his hearing trumpet - now fairly banged up - and held it up to his ear. "Am I mishearing things? Are you doubting me? Just ask Kíli if I would ever offer that position to someone I didn't think deserved it while you're traveling. I think it'll convince you."

Celia nodded. "All right. I'm sorry for doubting you," she apologized with a small smile, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Until we see you in Erebor, Óin. Don't let my sister cause too much trouble."

"Lass, I've helped raise the two lads. Compared to them, your sister will be like a golden reign of peace."

Celia smiled, hugging her sister one last time before reluctantly releasing her and deliberately getting in the back of the boat that Thorin was not in, Kíli clambering in next to her. She hardly paid attention as their human guides - provided by the Master to bring them to the base of the Lonely Mountain - began to row the boats down into the main part of the lake.

The trumpets sounded, and the people cheered, and the Master began a long, drawn-out speech. She lifted up a hand to wave goodbye, keeping eye contact with her sister for as long as possible, until the distance between them became too great.

She dropped her head, trying to burn the image into her memory, of her sister smiling at her, Fíli by her side, and Óin - and eventually Bofur - all standing strong and mostly healthy in an intact Lake-town. She flinched, but didn't pull away when she felt Kíli drop his arm around her shoulders and tug her into his chest, pulling her into a hug that she desperately needed.

"It'll be all right, Cel. We're the ones facing the dragon," he tried to joke. "And it's just until her arm gets better, and then they'll be following us. At least they'll be safe enough in Lake-town, as long as they avoid the Master." Celia couldn't stop herself from flinching again. "Celia? What is it? The Master? Is he going to try something?"

She shook her head, cursing herself for reacting at all. "No. But there's going to be trouble." Her voice was croaky, and she swallowed hard, trying to keep from burying her face in his tunic and just ignoring all her troubles.

"What kind of trouble?" he asked, his voice wary. "Are they going to be all right?"

She shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered. "Originally, yeah. They're fine. But I don't know what's going to happen, and they could get in trouble, and I won't be there to help!"

Kíli's arm tightened around her shoulders. "We've been over this, Cel," he reminded her gently. "Most people don't know what's going to happen, but we can't go around living life in fear. We just have to trust that they'll be able to handle themselves with whatever happens."

Celia swallowed hard, trying to get the words out. "Smaug's supposed to attack Lake-town, Kíli. He gets angered and attacks it. My sister - and your brother - are there! Unless we can kill him first, they'll be at risk."

Kíli stiffened, but didn't remove his arm. "I see," he said at last. "Then we'll just have to kill him before that happens. We should have just enough time to reach the mountain before Durin's Day, and we'll see what happens from there. There's nothing else we can do, and nothing we could have done about Elena - there's no reasoning with Uncle when he's like this." He frowned, hesitating before continuing, lowering his voice so that no one could hear him. "And it's worse than usual. He's never been so... I don't even know. Angry? Stubborn?"

Celia shifted in his arms and looked away guiltily. This was not the time to bring up the gold sickness. Not here, not now. "We need to discuss what's going to happen when we reach the mountain," she whispered. "And we need to do it before we reach the mountain. I don't think we'll have much time when that happens. Smaug rouses shortly after that happens." She huffed in frustration. "I just wish I could narrow it down to which way things are going to go! It would help a lot if I knew that, at least."

"Hey, calm down," Kíli urged her, rubbing her arms until she relaxed with a pout. "You won't be able to come up with a semi-decent plan if you're too busy ranting and raving." He waited until she had nodded in reluctant acceptance before continuing. "We've got a long trip ahead of us - at least two days by boat before we land by the mountain. Why don't you tell me what you think might happen? It might help you figure things out, or we can try and come up with something for each alternative."

"Why do you have to be so sensible?" Celia grumbled. "You never let me just sulk in peace."

"Well, someone has to be now that our older siblings are gone," Kíli pointed out, frowning when she winced at the unwelcome reminder. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "No. It's all right. Let me think. Um, one way, I think Bilbo gets sent after the treasure, and brings back a cup, which rouses Smaug. He smashes the secret entrance, then Bilbo meets him one more time before Smaug attacks Lake-town. The other way, Smaug wakes up right away, and you guys attack him in Erebor before he leaves to attack Lake-town. Either way, he has a bare patch on the left side of his chest. I think that's the way to kill him."

Kíli sighed. "Gandalf would know for sure. But who knows when we'll see him again?"

Celia twisted her fingers nervously. "I don't know - just that he shows up sometime after Smaug attacks, so we probably shouldn't count on him being around to help. But we know about the wound, so maybe we can use that against him? Hide somewhere, then lead him into an ambush and hit him there? I don't know what we could use though - I doubt our regular bows and arrows would have much of an effect even if we did hit him there. A spear might work, if it thrust deep enough..." She trailed off, muttering as her thoughts raced through various possible options. "I don't know if we'd want to get that close, though."

"Bard's son mentioned something about a Black Arrow," Kíli volunteered. "Those will pierce a dragon's scale. Maybe one of those would work, and we could at least try and wound him first, slow him down, and find a Black Arrow if possible. That way, if he does attack Lake-town, he might not do as much damage."

Celia nodded thoughtfully. "I know Bard has access to one. I suppose Elena will be able to warn him, at least. And once we're there, in the mountain... while Bilbo distracts the dragon, maybe I can head him off - confuse him, while you guys prepare a trap. I mean, I know he'll recognize the smell of dwarf, but I've only been here for a year or two, and spent most of that time with Hobbits - and before that, I lived in another world. I shouldn't smell like dwarf. It might confuse him enough that we can run him ragged, and then find a way to trap or kill him."

"So you're suggesting that we just throw you out in front of him, and expect you to outrun an angry dragon?" Kíli demanded, his voice colder than she'd ever heard from him when he addressed her. "Because that's not going to happen."

"Well, it's one of our best chances to take him down before he attacks Lake-town," Celia retorted, feeling strangely angry when she knew all he wanted to do is protect her. It's not like it was exactly a sane plan, and she wouldn't want one of her friends to run out in front of a dragon. "And if it means that my sister is safe, then I have to try it."

"But it might not work out that way," Kíli reminded her, releasing her so he could look her in the eyes, his own eyes dark and angry. "Right now, we don't even have a plan - just the bare semblances of your crazy idea of being bait for a dragon."

He sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes wearily and forcibly calming himself. "Look, we're both incredibly stressed right now, especially after saying goodbye to our siblings, and going to face a dragon. Before we do anything, I think we both need to calm down and see what Uncle's plan is. Believe it or not, he does come up with some pretty good ones from time to time," he teased, nudging her shoulder gently.

The subtle apology was enough to defuse most of her misplaced anger, and she relaxed, agreeing with him. They spend the next few hours in companionable silence, watching the Lonely Mountain grow ever so slightly closer as the time passed. They didn't stop to eat, merely had a few of the dwarves switch out with the human guides to give them a rest, continually rowing for the mountain.

They didn't have a chance to talk to Thorin, though. Their leader was in the opposite boat, and even if he weren't, the stern look on his face forbade idle chatter - or any talk at all, really, that wasn't absolutely necessary.

They slept in their boats that night, an anchor tossed overboard the only thing that kept them from floating away. It was awkward, and more than a bit cramped, but they'd all had plenty of experience with both tight spaces and uncomfortable beds. They started again early the next morning, all of them feeling renewed energy when they caught sight of the Lonely Mountain growing ever closer.

They reached land that night, the night before Durin's Day. Thorin rejected the guides' offer to continue leading him, asserting that he knew how to reach Erebor, and they started their journey home the next morning. None of them seem displeased at not continuing towards the mountain, and Celia was sure she saw at least one of them make a sign to ward off evil in that direction before they left.

The rest of them kept going towards the mountain. They were all hurrying then, with the object of their quest so close, and the knowledge that Durin's Day was upon them. At one point, as they were running over the foothills, Thorin veered off to one side and clambered aboard an embankment. When she managed to catch her breath and stumble after him, Bilbo was standing by Thorin's side, looking down on the ruins of a once-wealthy town in the valley below.

"What is this place?" Bilbo asked, voice hushed.

"It was once the city of Dale. Now it is a ruin. The desolation of Smaug," Balin said heavily.

Thorin stared at the ruins for a moment longer before turning away. "The sun will soon reach midday; let's find the hidden door into the mountain before it sets. This way!"

" Wait... is this the overlook?" Bilbo stammered. "Gandalf said to meet him here. On no account were we-"

Thorin cut him off abruptly. "Do you see him? We have no time to wait upon the wizard. We're on our own. Come." He set off resolutely back up towards the mountain, followed by the others. Bilbo stayed a moment longer, his troubled eyes meeting Celia's.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," he muttered, shaking his head before he set off after the Company.

She didn't say anything, but privately agreed with him.

A few hours later, they arrived at the base of the mountain. And however big she thought it was before, it was huge now that she could see it in real life. They all took a moment to celebrate before spreading out to look for the stairs to the secret entrance.

Well, the rest of the dwarves did. Once she found the literally giant statue carved into the mountain, she just kind of circled in that general area until Bilbo noticed. Which, thankfully, did not take as long as she had feared.

All it took after that was a little bit of searching, and he'd spotted the stairs, that at least were fairly well camouflaged into the statue. "Up here!" he shouted, attracting the attention of the others as they all came running up.

A slow smile spread across Thorin's face, the first real one in quite a while. "You have keen eyes, Mr. Baggins," he complimented his friend. "Let's get going."

One hour later, at the top of the mountain with sunset growing ever closer, Celia decided that it was official. She hates stairs. With a passion. The very first thing she's going to do once everything is settled is lobby for some kind of medieval elevator to be set up. That, or have everything be built on ground level.

She was fairly certain that she would never need to exercise again, and had just gotten enough cardio workout to last her for the rest of her life. Kíli, of course, seemed to be completely fine with the workout, and was only a little out of breath, and helped her up every over-sized stair like it was a piece of cake. At the moment, she couldn't decide whether she hated him or stairs more.

And he only laughed when she told him that.

She was planning her thoughts for revenge in between trying to catch her breath, doubled over with her hands on her knees when something else interrupted her well-thought out plans. The rest of the Company had filed out into the little clearing near the top of the dwarf statue, a plain rock wall at their backs.

"This must be it. The hidden door," Thorin announced, pulling the key he'd carried with him so far. "Let all who doubted us rue this day!" He shouted, holding it up in the air.

The others all cheered, while Celia waved a hand in the air in vague celebration, still concentrated on trying to remember how to breathe. She did notice when an odd silence fell on the group, and looked up to see them all staring at a single crow which had alighted on the clearing a short distance away. It tilted its head to stare at them, its beady eyes following them curiously.

"What's wrong?" Celia asked, feeling a bit unnerved at the sudden silence - even Thorin and Kíli were watching the bird carefully.

It was Balin who answered her. "Nothing's wrong. But they're nasty, suspicious-looking creatures, and rude as well. Not to mention, some take them as omens, as well, depending on how many times they crow."

"Aye, the old rhyme my amad used to tell me," Nori chimed in. "How did it go, again? One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for -" He cut himself off abruptly as the crow opened its mouth and cawed three times, looking at Celia before flying off.

"Three for what?" Celia asked slowly, noticing the way the thief had flinched at the notion, and a few others now looked perturbed as well, their previous cheer draining away.

"Three for a funeral," Kíli said, coming to stand beside her. He gave her a bright smile that seemed just a shade too bright. "But that's what we're here for, right? Funerals come from a death, and we're here to kill a dragon. Seems like a good omen to me."

There was muttered agreement from the rest of the Company, and Nori even started humming his new creation as they start to search for a keyhole - 'Funeral Dirge for a Dragon No One Loves', he called it.

The mood had been restored, perhaps even more cheerful now that it seems like things are finally going their way. But Celia couldn't help but notice the way Kíli suddenly hovered in a way he didn't before. And though the air was warm enough despite the lateness of the season, she felt a trickle of cold wrap around her spine.

* * *

 **A/N:** **This chapter's a fair bit longer than last week's, so hopefully that helps make up for it. D:**

 **Unfortunately, we have reports of more snow this weekend (and we had a blizzard last weekend). If someone knows somewhere warm I could move to for the remainder of this winter that _will not end_ , that'd be great...**

 **Just fyi, I'm going to be messing with the distance between Lake-town and Erebor here. In the book, it's something like five days travel, whereas in the movies, it's traveled in less than one day. So, I'm going to be mashing it up here, like I have been everywhere else, and say that it's roughly a few days travel, but closer than it is in the book. Hope that makes sense!**

 **Also, I'm totally messing with the timeline, here. But, to be fair, it's messed up in canon, too. In the book, Durin's Day falls closer to winter, and there are multiple delays, including two weeks rest in Lake-town. But in the movies, it's practically the end of summer, and they have very little time to reach it. So once again, I'm going with it being something a bit in between, and leaving it purposefully vague.**

 **And, one more: POVs might be switched up for the next few chapters. It's probably going to be Celia again, then maybe a mixture of the two for a bit. We'll have to see.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Lol, yup. Hopefully next time he's a bit nicer. Unfortunately, Celia has to be separated from her sister for a while yet... :( Fíli stayed behind though... Does that help? (And would it help if I said that there would be Celia/Kíli cuddles in the future?) :) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yep. The Master was... well, the Master. Celia wanted to stay behind, but was unable to, and Kíli stayed with her. Fíli, however, chose to remain with his lady. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked this chapter! (there should be a dragon next chapter...) :)**_

 _ **E: Yeah, Fíli can be to the point when he needs (or wants) to be. :D And adorable dwarves are adorable. Unfortunately, Elena had to stay behind, but fear not... Fíli has 0% intentions of allowing her to come anywhere near the Master *cue image of him carrying her off over his shoulder away from the Master's Mansion* Reunions will happen soon, though... Thanks for reviewing! (I always look forward to getting your review every Tuesday before I finish up the chapter.) I hope you like it! (Even with all the grim foreshadowing, and stuff like that. ;D)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia. (The raven poem also comes from classic folklore/children's rhymes.)**


	38. Chapter 38 - Returning Home

Laurel Owen forced her eyes open as she sat up with a gasp, clutching her hand to her chest. Even after all these years in a human world, somehow human herself, it was still strange to fall asleep with her eyes closed.

She'd gotten used to the other human oddities after a time, but it seemed she would never be able to truly rest, knowing she was shutting out the stars. Back ... there... he had placed an opening in the roof, so that when they laid down to rest she could immediately see the stars. Everything was open there, connected to nature. It was so different here.

It was easier, in some ways, than her home. Transportation was faster than anything she had ever seen in all her long years. Communication was possible across long distances with just the press of a button, and the indoor plumbing was amazing. That, and the air conditioning.

But it was small consolation when she woke up alone in her bed, her fingers creeping across the cold sheets where no one had laid down to rest. When she heard the laughter of children, but they were not hers, when the last time she had been called 'nana' was decades ago.

When she combed her hair, and her fingertips brushed against the rounded tips of her ears, marking yet another thing that had been taken from her.

It had gotten better, recently. She'd moved to the fairly small city almost twenty years ago, and had quietly tried to shape a new life there whilst simultaneously trying to hang onto what was left of her old one.

She knew what had happened to her - or, at least had made a fairly informed guess. She'd become a randir. A pilgrim. A wanderer between worlds that hadn't chosen her path, and wandered aimlessly, with no set purpose.

And then there had been the fire at the orphanage. Deliberately set by the director, all of the children had miraculously escaped. Fighting the urge to put an arrow through the man for putting so many lives in danger, she'd done whatever she could to help the now homeless children, offering donations and helping to raise awareness. But she had been unable to just leave it at that. And after spending so much time with all the children, her attention had been caught by two in particular.

Twins, or so it was believed, they had been found in the backyard of an abandoned house a year or so earlier, with no knowledge of their parents or their background. Somewhere around four or five years old, she wasn't quite sure, but they were small for their age, and something in their eyes drew her to them.

A bit of paperwork later, and she had adopted them. Now that she knew more about this world, she was sure it was only the extenuating circumstances that had warranted her being allowed to take them with so little effort.

But it wasn't until she'd brought them home that she'd realized who they really were. _What_ they were. She had never been very close to any dwarves, but she could recognize their handiwork when she saw it - she'd been around when they were still on fairly agreeable terms with the elves, after all, before the whole silly squabble had started.

Her husband was always quick to blame it on the dwarves, saying that only they could be responsible for such a needless fight. But she was more of the opinion that it was a result of two stubborn races who struggled to understand the meaning of the word 'diplomacy', firstborn of Iluvatar or no.

It wasn't just the necklaces' creators, though. Made of mithril, a metal that didn't even exist on this world, that could only mean one of a few options. One possibility was that the children were heirs to the throne of Erebor or otherwise highly connected - for who else would have access to that precious metal? It was so valuable that even nobility would have struggled to lay claim to it - particularly for something like jewelry, as opposed to armor. And yet, here were two children who wore the signature lockets, made completely of mithril.

The other option was that it was a gift. A sign, perhaps, from the Valar. A sign that they would be called to act, to be a protector of others, as mithril often was. A heavy burden lay upon the parents of those who received such a gift, for it meant that their child would often face challenges no child should face.

She could only wonder what their parents had thought, upon realizing what it could mean. Because how could it mean anything else? She had found twin dwarrowdams in another world - she could only pray that whatever strife they were meant to deal with would not destroy her home-world.

She had never told them this, but at first, there were times, on bad days, or when she'd been reminded of how much she'd lost, that she contemplated returning them to the orphanage. Finding another home, better equipped to take them in. A home that was more stable.

After all, how could she possibly be the best place for them to be, when she struggled with her nightmares, her crippling guilt and depression over her lost family and loneliness? They deserved better than that. They had already lost their parents, they didn't deserve to have them temporarily replaced by a woman who couldn't give them everything they needed.

Except, every time her hand reached for the phone, every time she truly thought about actually doing it, she couldn't. She couldn't take another home away from them so soon after they'd lost their old one, however un-homelike it may have been.

Not when they'd already settled in, claiming rooms as their own, leaving their toys scattered across the place as they ran about laughing in a way she hadn't seen at the orphanage. Not when they'd already wormed their way into her heart.

And she couldn't send them away knowing that they might end up being dreadfully unprepared for what was most likely awaiting them - she knew the stories. Whatever passes through the gates eventually returns. It was what had kept her going through all the bad days when it seemed like she'd never see her her loving husband or her beautiful forests again. She couldn't do that to them. She wouldn't.

And so she kept them, doing her best to raise them in the proper way. At first, it had been more of a duty - how could she love more children, when her own must have been thinking she abandoned them back home? She didn't want to take any love away from them, when it was all she had left of them.

But through trial and error, tantrums and laughter, she found that her love for her own children didn't disappear or shrink. It just multiplied, and her heart grew just a little bit larger to make room for two small little girls.

And really, it made life easier to go through when she wasn't so alone. So she'd sent them off to a private school where she knew they'd be well educated, welcoming them home each night. She'd taught them skills that could come in useful in the forest - which grew abundantly in their home-world.

And when they'd expressed a desire to learn weapons over sports - "Who wants to chase a ball around all day and get sweaty?" - instead of growing alarmed and repressing it, she'd done all she could to nurture their instincts and desires that had seeped through whatever blocked their memories.

And so, alone in a world that shows no sympathy for the weak and suffering, she raised two young girls such that, should she ever be blessed enough to return, she could look their parents in the eye and tell them she'd raised them well.

And she had done well, really. Despite never being trained for any sort of situation like this, she'd managed to educate herself and find a good-paying job - and a bit of computer skills that came in handy whenever she'd needed to update records so that her slow aging wouldn't be noticed.

And yet, there she was, sitting bolt upright in her bed, feeling that everything had been for naught. Because after all she'd done for her girls, done everything she could to protect them, and teach them how to protect themselves, she'd failed them. They'd been taken, and she didn't know where. All she knew was that six months ago, they'd left for a camping trip, whistling merrily as they strolled down the road at the edge of town, not a care in the world.

They'd never come back.

Oh, she'd waited a day or two past the expected return date without being too worried - they had time to spare, and had stayed late before. But then they still hadn't returned, and they didn't answer any of her calls.

She'd gone down herself to their usual camping spot and looked around for them. Their camping supplies were all set up, and had clearly been used, but the coals in the fire pit were cold, and nothing appeared to have been touched for sometime. It wasn't until she'd moved out a little farther that she'd felt her heart stop. Because there by the river, slightly damaged by morning dew, was Elena's notebook.

Flung carelessly on the ground in a way that the brunette would never do unless she was moving at high speeds with more serious concerns, it lay sprawled open on the ground, one page half torn out. She'd picked up carefully, looking over the incomplete drawing with an ache starting to grow in her heart.

Half the page had been taken up by a peaceful sketch of the river, the morning sun illuminating the waters. The other half was like a jarring note on the piano, a discord in the music. A jagged black line tore across the page where her pencil had slipped, tearing holes in the page.

She'd called the police.

They'd come and searched the place, searched the surrounding area, searched her house. Nothing. They'd asked around, put up posters, considered accidental drownings, even "subtly" asked questions that hinted at the possibility of her having had a hand in her daughters' disappearances. She'd shown them the door and asked them to come back when they knew where her daughters were. It had been six months since then, and there'd been no sign of the girls since.

Oh, there were phone calls and gifts from sympathetic friends and neighbors, and questions from neighborhood gossips and the local media. Even a few prank sightings from heartless teens - that were quickly dealt with by a phone call to their parents. But she hadn't seen anything that had even come close to looking like it could tell her where they were. Or even what had happened to them.

Until the dreams started. And then she wished that they'd stop, sometimes, they scared her so much. And yet, at the same time, she wished to sleep more, so that she could see them more.

She'd seen the girls- now apparently in their original forms, as they looked much more dwarfish - be found on a quiet forest path by a little man with hair on his feet, someone who looked strangely familiar. She thought she recalled him from the movies her girls had watched, the Hobbit, or something like that.

She'd never been able to watch it with them, not once she knew what it was about. How could she, knowing that she'd see her husband there? Her son, too, according to the girls.

She'd tried, once, when he was onscreen. But it just hurt so much - he looked the same, even sounded the same, with his cool gaze and icy demeanor. But then he'd mentioned her, however briefly, and she'd seen him flinch - the way only she could tell, and she'd fled.

Oh, she'd claimed the need to work on some project or another, but she'd just ended up in a heap on her bed, clutching her ring close.

She'd been forced to sell all her other jewelry to survive, but she refused to sell her wedding ring. It was too dangerous and conspicuous on her hand though - Thranduil always had been one for showy displays - so she'd placed it on a sturdy chain and let it rest on her chest, underneath her shirt. She'd taken it out every time she needed strength, drawing comfort from the memories of when he'd placed it on her finger after saying their vows.

She took out the ring now, relishing the feel of the cool metal against her skin, closing her eyes as the memories of her latest dreams flashed across her mind. Her daughters had been taken in by the strange little man, and had even grown close enough over time to call him their adopted uncle. Then more dwarves had arrived and taken the hobbit and her daughters on a trip across Arda, where they'd almost been eaten by trolls, skewered by orcs, and had (reluctantly) feasted in Rivendell.

At first, the dreams had been gentle, welcome even. She'd looked forward to seeing her daughters each night, even if it was in another world, where she could not reach them. She'd known as soon as she'd seen them that they'd returned to Arda. But her task here was apparently not done, as she had yet to be returned, although her yearning grew each day.

And then the dreams became darker, and more worrisome. Celia had almost been crushed into a mountain by a Rock Giant. Elena had fallen into a pit along with the hobbit, and both had been presumed dead. They'd traveled to the Greenwood - now apparently called Mirkwood, and far darker than she ever recalled seeing it - and both of them had fallen in an enchanted river, and fallen asleep.

Perhaps the worst of it had been seeing the increasing amounts of spiders that had taken over the forest outside their boundaries then attack their group, stringing up Elena as prey while Celia slumbered on, carried in the arms of the dark-haired boy she'd always swooned over on the TV.

Her dreams were always mixed up and out of order - one day, they might be in the Misty Mountains, and the next, back in the Hobbit's home. And the day after that, they might be in Thranduil's dungeons, all grumbling amongst themselves.

But this - the one that left her fighting a scream as she remembered it - this one - how could it even be real? It couldn't be. She'd never been able to hear them talking, so she didn't know why they were traveling in the first place. But had that been their end goal?

Was this dream a vision of what was to come, or a reminder of an event already passed? Or possibly a warning of what route not to take? Was that what she was supposed to do - see all this, and then warn the twins about what was to come?

Was she to warn them that a dragon, fierce and evil, with glittering eyes had taken Erebor? That if they chose to enter, she had seen Celia dying - falling to her demise, the foul dragon above her, and piles and piles of gold below her to create the richest tomb she had ever seen? That she had seen Elena clutching her arm to her chest as she ran through a town that was aflame, terror written across her face as she fled from some nameless evil?

She let the ring fall to her chest as she glanced up at her door, a thought occurring to her. Pushing aside her jumbled-up blankets, she slid out of bed and walked out of the door, hesitating outside Elena and Celia's room before placing her hand on the doorknob and slowly pushing it open.

She couldn't help the tears that sprung to her eyes when she walked in. She'd searched it before, looking for any sign that the girls might have been planning an unexpected road trip, or anything like that, but it was still painful to walk in, knowing that they most likely wouldn't be returning.

She shook off the unpleasant thoughts and strode over to the bookcase, fingers skimming the books in there until she came across the one she had been looking for: The Hobbit. She plucked it out of the shelf with one hand, then returned to her room, settling back into her blankets to read something that she should have read a long time ago.

She didn't know what it was about, aside from the very basic knowledge that it was set in Arda, and had lots of dwarves and, of course, a hobbit, but given her dreams, she thought it was something she needed to know.

xXx

Several hours later, she set down the book, her lips pursed into a tight line. So this... Thorin Oakenshield... had taken her daughters, and an innocent hobbit, on a quest to take on a dragon? Forget everything else, she had to return, if just to teach that dwarf some manners - after she made sure he survived, of course. She was sure that that was why her daughters went along, to save him and his two nephews they'd always declared to be attractive.

But noble cause or no, she was going to make sure he treated her two daughters with all the respect they deserved. None of that moody, gold-sickness business. Not to mention the way her husband had been acting. He clearly had let go of a few things - like manners - since her disappearance.

Determined, she got out of bed and dressed in clothes she hadn't worn in decades, letting the scent of the tunic wash over her as she pulled it over her head. Braiding her hair back, she packed a bag full of food and other essentials she might need before heading outside and unlocking the secret attic of the garage, pulling out weapons she also hadn't used in years - the bow and arrow, and matching daggers that she'd been wearing when she'd been taken.

Locking the doors behind her, she cast one last glance at the place she'd called home for the last twenty years before turning resolutely around, raising her head high like the queen she was, and setting off down the road towards the forest.

The dwarves might be reclaiming their home, but she was a mother on the warpath. And nothing was going to stand in her way of returning home and finding her daughters (and son - and scolding him for not being more gracious to the Company).

xXx

In a different world, many miles separate, two kings felt a nameless sense of dread fall upon them.

* * *

 **A/N: I know it's a step away from the beaten path, but I figured it was time to reintroduce Laurel/Aredhel to the story, and start to bring a few more pieces into play. Originally, Thranduil was going to have a bit too, but it's almost 3AM, and I need to get this up there, so he's gonna have to wait for another chapter. :P**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed (we're now officially over 100 followers! Woo-hoo!) and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, vat1, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Nope. Cuddles are always enjoyable, however there were none this chapter, sorry. :( Haha, and yep. When I get around to editing, I'm going to explain the first part of that chapter a little better, hopefully make it more clear what's actually going on. And no comment yet as to how Celia ends up in Smaug's claws... And as for the raven poem, I didn't really intend it to help ;) I just figured I'd throw it in there for some of the more superstitious dwarves, who could take it either way. Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this one. :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Nothing happens to Celia as of right now, because I felt a sudden and pressing urge to bring their mother back into play, lol. ;D Definitely not because I want to leave everyone on a cliffhanger... Celia/Kíli cuddles are always adorable, hopefully there'll be more soon. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it! :)**_

 _ **vat1: Thanks! Update schedule is as follows: I promise to update Tuesday night, and upload it in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. So basically, if you check it on Wednesday, there should be a new chapter up every week. :D And it's ironic that you should mention their mother coming back... she's not there yet, but she's darn well going to try! (how is yet to be explained). Thanks for a great review, and I hope you like it! :)**_

 _ **E: Haha, well, at least I can take pride in knowing that you like Celia enough not to want her to die that way. And I can promise, no killing or dying... this chapter. Laurel may be planning it, but she hasn't committed it yet... As for how and if Celia meets the dragon... more on that later. And I'm definitely planning on including Fíli/Elena in Lake-town and Celia/Kíli in Erebor soon. Thanks for the great review, and I hope you like it (even if it's not quite the answers you were looking for...) :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, but Elena and Celia are all mine.**


	39. Chapter 39 - How to Kill a Dragon

~~ Celia ~~

"The last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole," Thorin quoted, walking to the edge of the little clearing and staring at the setting sun. "And yet, the sun is setting, and there is no keyhole." He turned and looked back at the others. "Spread out, do whatever you have to do, but this is our only chance to find the way in. I doubt there will be another chance for us next year."

The dwarves spread out across the rock, Nori placing his head next to it and tapping it with a spoon, trying to listen for hollow spaces behind the rock. Dwalin began kicking it, as if that would help, and a few of the others began pushing on the rock, trying to push open the door, beginning to argue amongst themselves as tensions grew higher, and the sun grew lower.

"Be quiet! I can't hear when you're thumping!" Nori hissed, moving the spoon about.

"I can't find it..." A pause before the thumping began again. "It's not here!" Another pause. "And it's not here," Dwalin growled, pulling out his weapon and hitting the wall with the butt of his axe, Bífur and Glóin doing the same, all to no avail.

Celia and Bilbo stood anxiously by the back, both fidgeting for different reasons as everyone else became more and more frantic in their search for the keyhole, and Thorin grew more worried, pacing and studying the map over and over, muttering the prophecy to himself. He stopped at one point in the middle of his pacing and strode over to her, still holding the map in his hands.

"Do you know where the keyhole is? How to find the door?" he asked anxiously, glancing over her shoulder at the sun, which was now rapidly sinking under the horizon. "We are running out of time, Celia. If you have knowledge of the matter, the time to speak up is now."

She wrung her hands nervously, watching the other dwarves pounding on the rock. "The prophecy said the last light of Durin's Day. The sun hasn't sunk yet. It's not the last light. When we see the last light - and I'm not sure how that will be revealed - then it will illuminate the keyhole. So don't give up just yet. Even when it seems like it's hopeless. To be all vague and mysterious, things are rarely what they seem." She gave him a crooked smile. "Especially when it comes to prophecies, and special tasks given to people from other worlds, it seems."

He scowled down at the map. "So, we should not even bother looking, just wait until the sun is set completely?"

She shrugged. "I guess?" Bringing her hand up to her mouth, she began to gnaw on her thumbnail unconsciously. "It's the very last light of Durin's Day. For all I know, it could be the last moon of autumn, instead of the sun. Either way, I think we'll be finding out very soon. The sun's almost down completely."

Thorin nodded. Turning to the others, he called for them to stand down, which they all did with questioning faces. "The sun is setting. The prophecy says, 'Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks. The setting sun and the last light of Durin's Day will shine on the keyhole.' We need to wait. There will be no thrush if we scare them off, and the day is not yet over. Stand back from the rock." There were a few nods of understanding as the dwarves hastily moved away from the rock, hovering by the stairs or closer to the edge of the little clearing.

A tense silence followed as they all tried to stay still, but the closer the sun got to the disappearing beneath the horizon, the more fidgety everyone got. Celia just sat down, hoping that the others would follow her example, and not be moving around so much that they'd startle off any birds within flying distance - although she wouldn't complain if she didn't see any more crows any time soon. She wasn't superstitious in the slightest, but she wouldn't deny that the little rhyme surrounding them had a much more ominous feeling to it outside of a mountain containing a fire-breathing dragon.

Bilbo and Kíli were the first to sit, fixing their eyes on the rock face. Ori and Nori were next, although Nori had a strange look in his eye, and his gaze kept flitting between Thorin and her. Slowly, everyone closer to the rocks sat down, although Thorin and Dwalin remained standing by the stairs, Thorin clutching both the key and the map tightly in his hands.

The sky grew darker and darker, until the sun and the rising moon eventually vanished behind red clouds, and a groan erupted from all the dwarves present. Celia and Bilbo remained calm, though, watching the wall, with Thorin and Nori watching them, and everyone else watching the sky.

And then, just when it seemed that the sun was about to disappear completely, a little brown bird with a speckled belly flew down between them, a small nut clasped in its beak.

Landing in the middle of the clearing, it tilted its head from side to side as it peered at them with beady eyes, while they waited with baited breath. Hopping forward, it looked up at the looming mountainside above before cracking the nut in its beak against the wall.

And just then, the clouds shifted, and a small beam from the last light of Durin's Day came shining through and illuminated a dark hole in the rocks that was unmistakably a keyhole. An explosive sigh of relief came from the Company and the thrush, startled, dropped its nut before trilling at them and flying away rapidly.

But no one noticed. Everyone had surged to their feet and was crowding around the keyhole, and Thorin was pushing his way through, key in hand. Dropping the map, he placed the key in the hole with a trembling hand and turned it, the sound of gears turning behind the rock as the light disappeared, and the sun set. Pushing on the rock lightly, the outline of a door began to appear as it opened into the mountain, revealing an inky blackness within.

They all stood silently for a minute as they took it in, carvings above the threshold and inside the door visible from the light of the moon.

"Erebor," Thorin murmured, standing on the threshold, his voice low.

"Thorin..." Balin started, choking up.

Thorin put a hand on his shoulder, then stepped into the mountain, sucking in a breath as he returned to his home that had been taken from him over a century ago. "I know these walls... these walls, this stone. You remember it, Balin. Chambers filled with golden light," he reminisced, running his hand over the carvings softly, as if afraid that they would fade away, or crumble into dust.

Balin nodded, tears in his eyes. "Aye. I remember."

Celia hung back as the others slowly and reverently entered the mountain, not wanting to take this special moment from them. They were the ones who had planned for this, and dreamed of this for so long. They were the ones who had suffered for lack of a home, who had struggled to make a life for themselves in an unforgiving world, and she - she had not. She would rejoice with them later, and she couldn't deny the lightness in her heart that she felt, nor the tears in her eyes, but this moment... This moment was for them.

Except then Kíli was there in front of her, taking her hand in his and tugging her towards the door. "This is your home, too, Cel," he told her with a gentle smile, obviously knowing why she had waited. "Or, well, maybe not yet, but it will be. You're a dwarf of Erebor, and you've fought just as hard for this as we have. And you too, Mister Boggins," he raised his voice, his smile widening to a grin. "You've earned your place with us, come on in."

"Baggins, Kíli, Baggins. I don't know why I even bother anymore," her uncle grumbled lightheartedly, stalking up to them with a smile on his face. "And why are you even calling me that? You've been calling me Bilbo for most of the trip by this point."

Kíli merely grinned in response and pulled them both a little further into the mountain, where Nori was gesturing at a carving above the door. Craning her head to see it, Celia felt her mouth drop open a little in appreciation of the sheer skill needed to place all the carvings everywhere. And this one - a gem that radiated light in all directions hovering above a throne - clearly meant something a little different from all the other carvings in the passageway.

" _Herein lies the seventh kingdom of Durin's Folk. May the heart of the mountain unite all dwarves in defense of this home_ ," Glóin read aloud the inscription, sounding a little choked up as he traced a hand along one of the walls. "I thought I might never see it again," he admitted quietly. "Ah, Gimli would love to be here for this. He's too young though. He wanted to come, but his amad and I wouldn't let him," he rambled, tugging his locket out of his shirt and opening it.

"So, ah, what's that above the throne, then?" Bilbo asked Balin quietly, drawing Celia's attention to him as they studied the carving.

"The Arkenstone," Balin informed him, a quiet sort of reverence in his voice that made Celia shift uncomfortably.

Bilbo nodded uncomprehendingly. "Oh. And ah, what's that?"

"That, Master Burglar, is why you are here," Thorin interrupted. Everyone turned to look at Bilbo, the hobbit shifting uncomfortably, but eventually nodding in determination.

"I can't guarantee that I'll find it right away, especially if it's as filled with treasures as the stories say, but I'll at least go take a look around, see if I can find signs of what we're up against. Maybe the old lizard will be dead, and all our problems will be solved - dragons hardly live forever now, do they? Or if he's still there, I can try to find a weakness, perhaps, like in that tale Bain told us of a missing scale." He slipped a hand into his pocket. "I've got my ring, and I'll wear that in there as added protection. I'll go in, scout it out, and come back with my report. Sound good?" he queried.

Thorin huffed, sounding put out but unable to deny the logic of such a plan. "Very well, but I must stress the importance of finding the Arkenstone."

Bilbo nodded, clearly struggling to resist rolling his eyes. "Yes, I'll put that on the list, right under 'avoid the dragon at all costs.' I'll do my best, but like I said, this is a scouting mission. I don't suppose any of you want to come with me, at least part of the way?" he said jokingly.

Celia stepped forward immediately. "I will. I can't come all the way, because I don't have the sneaking skills that you do, but I'll go part of the way, at least." He sent her a grateful smile,and Balin one as well when he stepped forward and offered to guide him.

Kíli tried to volunteer, but Thorin held him back, shaking his head and murmuring something in Khuzdul. He looked unhappy about it, but nodded, telling them to be careful before reluctantly stepping back as Balin lead them down the tunnel, a torch in one hand, and the rocks being faintly lit further down by some mineral within. They walked in silence through the tunnels for a few minutes before Bilbo spoke up.

"So... you want me to find a jewel, right?"

"A large white jewel, yes," Balin agreed.

"That's it? Only, I imagine there's quite a few down there," Bilbo pointed out unhappily.

"There is only one Arkenstone. You'll know it when you see it," Balin assured him. Bilbo looked less than convinced.

"Don't worry, Uncle Bilbo," Celia smiled, resting a hand on his arm as they came to a stop. "Trust me. There's no way you could miss the Arkenstone. It's incredibly obvious, and kind of glowing, I think. You'll be fine. Just wear your ring the whole time, and stay safe. Please?"

He smiled at her- clearly still worried, but putting on a good face - before pulling her into a hug. "Trust me. Your old uncle knows a fair bit about dodging unpleasant visitors. Lobelia liked to try surprise visits every now and again, as if that would make me more agreeable to her taking off with something valuable or another."

She returned the hug before releasing him reluctantly and turning to head back down the tunnel with Balin. They'd only gone a short ways when the old dwarf turned around, a pensive look on his face. "In truth, lad, I do not know what you will find down there. You needn't go if you don't want to, there's no dishonor in turning back."

Bilbo shook his head immediately. "No, Balin, I promised I would do this, and I think I must try."

Balin just looked at him for a minute before beginning to chuckle appreciatively. "It never ceases to amaze me."

"What?" Bilbo asked curiously.

"The courage of Hobbits. Go now with as much luck as you can muster," Balin told him. "And Bilbo... if there is, in fact, a live dragon down there... don't wake it."

Bilbo snorted, shaking his head rapidly. "I try to actively avoid that, Balin. Stay safe. Hopefully I'll see you soon, and with good news."

Celia wished him luck, hugging him once more before heading back down the tunnels, afraid that if she looked back, she'd refuse to leave him there alone, knowing what could come. But that would be a bad idea for everyone involved, and could mess up the possible advantage that not smelling like a dwarf could bring her. As it was, she could prove a useful distraction, and perhaps they could injure or even kill Smaug before he had the chance to attack Lake-town.

When they'd returned to the front of the mountain, the rest of the Company had all taken a seat in the clearing in front of the door. Choosing to do the same, Celia took a seat by Kíli, smoothing a few stray hairs back into her braid, and making sure that the rest of it was tight. She had no wish for her aim to be thrown off by her hair falling into her face at exactly the wrong moment.

"So, what's the plan for if there is a live dragon down there?" she said casually, sliding her quiver off her back and running her fingers over the fletchings of her arrows.

Thorin shifted in his seat. "Lady Celia."

Aaand they were using titles now. Which meant some sort of formal conversation, no doubt. Lovely.

"Yes, Master Thorin?" she said, glancing up at him innocently and noticing his more-serious-than-usual face with some trepidation.

"I believe that now is the time to discuss whether or not your randir abilities apply to this situation," he said delicately, not giving away the extent of her knowledge yet. "Randircome to help prevent or fight a great evil, and the beast that lays within our home is no exception. And as such, they typically have some knowledge that will aid them in their quest. Are you aware of any knowledge that may be relevant?"

She replaced her quiver on her back and fiddled with the end of her braid nervously, well aware that the eyes of everyone in the Company were on her - some in surprise at the reminder of what her role truly meant, and others - such as Kíli and Ori - were less surprised, and more... cautious.

"Sma - the dragon, is most likely not dead," she admitted at last, thinking that perhaps some names should not be spoken, not so close to the mountain, when he was so close.

Or maybe that only applied to dark lords, and not dragons.

No one seemed too surprised by the news, but there was definitely some disappointment.

"Um... he'll wake up at some point soon, now that we're here, and if we don't stop him, he's going to attack Lake-town. Oh, and I think Bilbo mentioned Bard's son said something about a missing scale? That's true - he has a missing scale on the left side of his chest, and that's probably our best shot at killing him."

Thorin pondered the news for a moment, nodding slightly. "Do you know when he will wake up? Today, tomorrow, a week? If we can find him while he's still asleep, we may have more of a chance to take him off guard."

Celia wrinkled her nose and shifted her position, trying to push out a rock that had been digging into her knee. "It will most likely be today, in all honesty. Bilbo is an excellent sneak, but dragons hoard their wealth, and know if so much as a single gold coin is missing, according to the legends. We should prepare to face a roused, angry dragon that _can_ be killed," she said, emphasizing the word. "Kíli and I have our arrows, so we could probably do some long-distance damage. A Black Arrow would be best but I don't know if there would be any in Erebor. I think they were pretty rare, right?"

Thorin frowned. "We had several in possession when he attacked. None were able to wound him, however, and it is doubtful that he left any remaining intact on the walls once we had fled. There may be some in the armory, but we would have to cross the open hall first, where it is most likely that Smaug rests. It should not be counted out completely, but I would not rest my hopes on finding an intact Black Arrow."

"Maybe a heavy spear, then, or something like Bífur's boar spear?" Celia suggested, chewing on her thumbnail once more. "That would probably be strong enough, if it hit him by his missing scale. The only trouble is, that places whoever throws the spear in extreme danger."

"So that should also be a last resort," Kíli chimed in. "He'd have to be close enough to the ground for us to reach, and we'd need some sort of distraction to draw his attention enough that the other person could sneak up and throw it or stab him with enough force to pierce his heart. Which probably counts out at least half of us right now."

Nori snorted. "More than half, I'd say. It's probably only Bífur, Dwalin, or one of us Ri brothers who have the strength. But I don't have the skill for that kind of shot. My weapons are typically much smaller. And if you think I'm letting Ori get anywhere near the claws of a dragon..." He let the words trail off, the implication obvious.

"I could be a distraction though," Celia piped up when the silence was growing to be a little too awkward. She threw her hands up in the air before everyone could respond. "And before you all immediately shoot me down, let me just remind you that I don't smell just like dwarf? I probably smell like our old world, mixed with a bit of hobbit. I'll be something new, something different. I can hide most of the time - believe me, it's not like I want to see a dragon face-to-face - and then come out when we're ready, or something, and surprise him. Then, when he tries to get me, someone else can stab him."

She turned to Kíli, choosing to ignore the looks on everybody's faces. "And while our normal arrows might not be strong enough to kill him, we can still damage him. Cause him a lot of pain. And if we're up high, and out of reach in an inaccessible hideaway, I bet we could shoot him in the eyes, too. Should be a lot easier to hit than a small patch. And then, even if we can't kill him right away, we could at least blind him. Should make it easier to kill him. What do you think?"

Kíli stared down at his hands, picking at the dirt and pebbles there. "I think it's a great plan, except for the part where you run out in front of an angry dragon and try to get his attention. I could just as easily be the distraction, if I hid at first, so he didn't know I was there. Or literally anyone else."

Celia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, anyone from another world? In case you hadn't noticed, the only other person like that is back in Lake-town. You know, the place that the dragon's gonna attack if we don't stop him? If he smells me, it'll be enough to distract him."

Bífur muttered in Khuzdul before signing something rapidly with his fingers too fast for her to make out. When she frowned apologetically, he only shook his head and lifted his boar spear from the ground, shaking it in the air repeatedly, ignoring the outraged protests his comment had sparked. She turned to Kíli for answers and he obliged, though reluctantly.

"He said that he can kill the dragon, and that you would be the best distraction. We just need to lead him somewhere where Smaug'll be cramped, so that it'll be harder for him to maneuver, and easier for Bífur to stab."

"No," Glóin said immediately. "That dragon has taken enough of our innocents. Why should we send another to him?"

"Except we'll be right there with her," Dwalin pointed out gruffly. "She came on this quest to help, and this is one of the best ways she can help. I say let her do it, if she wants to."

"We can't justify sending another young lass to face a dragon, purely on the hope that she might distract him enough for us to kill him. Who's to say that he'll be killed?" his brother retorted. "He could just be injured, and then Lady Celia would be unable to escape him."

The bickering went on for another two minutes before Thorin stepped in. "Her purpose on this quest is to warn of us upcoming evils, and help us prepare to stop them. She has done just that, and her task is fulfilled. She will not be coming with us to face Smaug."

* * *

 **A/N: Oh, Thorin... I think you're jumping the gun a bit there...**

 **Just fyi, I have no idea which pov will be next chapter. Most likely Celia, to continue where this left off, but it could be Elena - or even a bit of Thranduil and/or Laurel. (You guys all seemed to like the idea of a vengeful mother, so you should be happy to hear that I have a confrontation or two planned...) :D**

 **I want to extend a hearty thank you to all my readers these past few weeks. I know that some of those chapters have not been my best, and I've been feeling unmotivated to write at times, and struggled for weeks with how to write this chapter. (Can you say writer's block?) But through it all, you guys have been so supportive and amazing, and it's really been encouraging and motivating for me to write. :D**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Child of Dreams, MissCallaLilly, Lady Silverstar2, Princess Aziza, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Hahaha, I don't either... The confrontation I'm planning... might actually be occurring at the same time, lol (she gets to yell at both of them at once!) I don't really feel sorry for them either... Thorin's definitely going to deserve it. :P Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: I'm glad you liked it! :D Awesome username, btw. Hope you like this one!**_

 ** _MissCallaLilly: Oh, she's coming all right... for her children, and for the two kings. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Lady Silverstar2: Oh, yes. They're going to be in the height of their jealous bickering, and she's gonna come along and put them thoroughly in their place. Thank you for your encouraging review, it really meant a lot to me this week. :D I hope you like this chapter! :)_**

 ** _Princess Aziza: I'm looking forward to it too, lol. :D Thanks for reviewing! ;)_**

 ** _E: She will definitely be showing up again. And Smaug's not the only one who needs to watch out for her wrath, lol. And yes. Mothers can be the most dangerous people to anger... and she's on the warpath. Thanks for a great review, and I hope you like it! :)_**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	40. Chapter 40 - The Desolation of Smaug

~~ Celia ~~

"What?" Celia said incredulously, swinging around to face Thorin.

He met her gaze unflinchingly. "I said, you will not be coming with us to face Smaug. Your purpose here is accomplished. By telling us of his missing scale, we have an advantage we did not have previously. If we can kill him here before he attacks Lake-town, we will have averted the potential catastrophe you were afraid of. You do not need to put yourself at risk any further."

Celia averted her eyes, wondering whether or not she should bring up the fact that Lake-town was _not_ the 'potential catastrophe' she was worried about. Or, at least, not the only one she was worried about. As it was, she shook her head. "You don't know that. And I bring another advantage in that he won't recognize my smell. It could startle him, be the distraction that we need."

"Or it could just draw his attention to you, and you die needlessly," Thorin pointed out, raising an eyebrow at her. "I would not have you added to the list of lives lost to the dragon."

"I'm not the only one at risk here, you know," she said impatiently, trying to make them see her side of it. "Any of us could die. And if I could make the difference that means innocent people in Lake-town don't die, then I'm going to help. One person should not have more value than dozens of innocent lives."

"Nor should it have any less," Thorin said heavily. "I told you when we started this quest that I expected you to respect my authority, and to fall back when I ordered it. You agreed to that, and I am ordering you now to stand back."

Celia clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms. "And my sister told you that we couldn't make any promises when it came to innocent lives being in danger. We're here to help prevent catastrophes, not just warn about them. There are some things that we have to do to make sure that other events don't happen, and right now, we haven't done them yet."

"Am I wrong in assuming that you must be alive to ensure your purpose is accomplished?" Thorin asked deliberately. She flushed, opening her mouth to retort, but he cut her off. "You've done what you needed to do in warning us about Lake-town and Smaug's awakening. But you are not to engage with Smaug under any circumstances. That is an express command."

Celia clenched her jaw, willing herself not to let out any of the disrespectful comments she was thinking, which would in no way help her case. She could sense Kíli shifting uncomfortably beside her, but he remained silent, no doubt unwilling to enter the confrontation between her and his uncle.

Finally, she took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "My sister is in Lake-town. My uncle is currently scouring among piles of gold for a shiny rock, where he could come face-to-face with a dragon at any minute. Right now, both of them are in danger. And if I can help either of them by facing Smaug, I'm going to. I have to. They're my family."

Thorin shook his head, but whatever he said next was lost as the ground beneath them began to shake, a loud crashing sound filling the clearing. Everyone shot to their feet.

"Was that an earthquake?" Dori wondered, staring at the ground beneath their feet suspiciously.

Balin shook his head unhappily. "That, my lad, was a dragon."

"What about Bilbo?" Ori questioned, peering at the door.

They all flinched when they saw a red glow emanating from it, leaving no doubt in anyone's minds as to what was going on.

Smaug was awake. And angry.

"Give him more time," Thorin said calmly, watching the door.

"Time to do what?" Balin asked, frowning at their leader. "To be killed?"

Thorin stared at Balin, as if realizing something for the first time. "You're afraid," he scoffed.

Balin paused for a moment, gathering his words before stepping up to Thorin. "Yes, I'm afraid.I fear for YOU. A sickness lies upon that treasure hoard, a sickness that drove your grandfather mad."

Thorin scowled. "I am not my grandfather."

"You're not yourself either," Balin countered. "The Thorin I knew would not hesitate to go in there -"

"I will not risk our quest for the sake of one burglar," Thorin snapped.

Celia sucked in a breath between her teeth, Kíli stepping closer to her, as if to stop her from doing something rash. Balin just shook his head in disgust.

"Bilbo. His name is Bilbo, Thorin. He has a name."

Thorin didn't respond, just strolling to the edge of the clearing and looking out at the horizon contemplatively. The ground shook again, and when Thorin did nothing, Celia had had enough.

Snatching her bow off her back, she whipped an arrow out of her quiver and started for the door, glaring when Kíli got in her way. "Move."

"Where are you going?" he asked her quietly, blocking her path to the door.

"I'm going after my uncle, since apparently I'm the only one who cares enough to do so," she spat. "And if that means I have to take Smaug on myself, I will. Now move."

He shook his head. "I can't let you do that, Celia. Thorin specifically stated that you were to stay here."

"And what? Listen to my uncle die because you wouldn't let me go after him?"

"No. To stay alive when so few of our dwarrowdams have," Thorin interrupted, stalking over to them and glaring down at her. "I gave you an express order, Celia, and I expect you to obey it."

"You asked for three things at the beginning of this quest," she started. "Loyalty, honor, and a willing heart."

He drew back, startled, and glanced at Balin, who looked equally confused. "How did you know of that? I spoke only to Balin of that."

"It doesn't matter," she said impatiently. "What matters is that every one of us has shown loyalty to this quest. But it goes two ways. Which means that we don't abandon the others when we've just sent them to face a fire-breathing dragon!" she snapped.

Thorin narrowed his eyes at her, but she refused to back down, fueled by her concern for her uncle. "He knew the risks when he agreed to this quest. He went down there of his own accord. Do not blame me for his decisions. We will look after him if he needs it, but his decisions are on his own head."

"If he needs - " Celia cut herself off, shaking her head in disbelief. "He's running from an angry dragon because he went down there looking for some stupid, shiny rock! For you! And you don't even have the decency to be worried for him! After everything he's done for you, saving your life, jumping in front of Azog to defend you when you couldn't, even after you'd been anything but welcoming to him. And you can't even muster up a little bit of concern for him?"

Thorin glared at her, but her words seemed to have made at least some sort of impact, however small. "He chose to do that. I never told him to save me." He sighed heavily. "But you are right. He did not abandon us then, and I will not abandon him now." Placing a hand on his sword, he turned to the others. "Let us go rescue our burglar."

"Finally," Celia exclaimed, moving to dart around the group towards the door.

This time, however, it was Thorin who blocked her way, shaking his head. "My previous command still stands. Do not follow us. Stay here, Celia."

"What? No!" she refused immediately, trying to duck behind him. The only direction she went, however, was up, as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her up and away from the door. "Hey! Let me go!" she protested, struggling wildly against the restraining hold, her bow and arrow clattering to the ground.

"I can't do that, Celia, I'm sorry," Kíli said apologetically from behind her, his voice muffled. "If you're going to go, I suggest you go now, Thorin," he called as another roar echoed from the depths of the door, and Celia renewed her struggles.

The dwarf king nodded, leading the others into the tunnel, sword drawn. The rest of the group followed quietly, stern determination on their faces. A few of them, like Bífur and Dwalin looked unhappily at her, something like regret in their expressions, but most of them just followed solidly behind their king, not meeting her eyes.

Kíli continued to hold onto her for the next few minutes until the Company was out of sight, tightening his hold whenever she struggled. "I'm sorry, Celia," he apologized whenever she stopped her struggles and protests to breathe. "But Thorin is both my uncle and my leader, who I have sworn to obey on this quest. And he told me to look out for you, and keep you from going with them after the dragon."

"Do you expect me to thank you?" she snapped, trying not to sound hysterical as she slammed her heel into his shin. He grunted, but didn't let go. "That's my uncle in there!"

"And mine as well," he retorted sharply, finally letting some heat into his voice. "And my brother is down in Lake-town along with your sister. You're not the only one who's worried, you know."

She sagged in his arms suddenly, closing her eyes tiredly as a tear slipped out. "I know. I'm sorry," she choked out, hanging her head. "I'm not the only one who stands to lose if this goes wrong. I shouldn't have ignored that."

He sighed, loosening his hold on her and setting her down, though he still kept his arms wrapped around her. " I know you didn't mean any harm by it, Celia," he assured her quietly. "You were just worried about your uncle. But you weren't seeing the bigger picture. Uncle was just trying to look out for you in the only way he could. He's still trying to look out for us to the best of his abilities."

"By refusing to help Bilbo? By demoting him to the task he agreed to carry out, instead of recognizing him as a person?" she retorted, some of her fire coming back.

"No," Kíli said calmly. "By leaving Elena in Lake-town, where he thought she would be safe, because she was injured and he didn't know that it would be attacked. By letting Fíli stay with her, hoping that they would both be safe there. By forcing you to stay here, and telling me to watch you, he put both of us out of the line of fire. If he could have, he'd probably have ordered Ori to stay here as well, but he's of age, and they need every hand they can get."

"That doesn't explain the way he treated Bilbo," Celia hissed.

The prince sighed. "No. It doesn't. Nor does it excuse it. I don't - I don't know why he's suddenly acting so strange, but I can guess. And I'm sure you know, too." Celia flinched. "I thought so. Celia, if I let go now, will you let me come around to talk to you, or are you going to try to run again?"

She was quiet for a minute, thinking. "Depends on what you have to say," she said at last.

He huffed something that might have been a laugh. Or a sigh of exasperation. Or possibly both. "What if it's about us following them?"

She perked up. "I'm listening."

He snorted, releasing her and stepping around to the front of her, still careful to keep his body between her and the door in case she decided to make a break for it. "We both know you're still going to try and go after them, even if it gets you killed." She didn't bother to deny it. "But I'm going with you."

She glanced up at him, startled, and he chuckled bitterly. "I told you, remember? You're not the only one worried. Why do you think I agreed to stay behind and keep you from going with them? If by some miracle you had agreed to stay behind, it probably only would have lasted until we turned the first corner, and then you would have been following us."

She grinned sheepishly and reached a hand up to rub the back of her neck. "Well, you're not wrong," she admitted. "But how are we supposed to follow them without getting lost? It's been several minutes now. Who knows where they could be at?"

Kíli just smiled, crouching down to pick up her bow and arrow and handing them back to her, drawing his own. "Dwarf, remember? We have a great sense of direction underground. Not to mention the fact that Uncle made sure to give us at least a brief layout of Erebor when it was decided that we could come along. And, if all else fails us," he winced as another sound - this time clearly a roar of rage from a very loud - and very angry - creature emanated from the door. "We can just follow the sounds. Now come on!" He jerked his head towards the door. "Just keep quiet, and stay behind me."

Celia nodded, following him wordlessly as she once again entered the tunnel, both of them running as quietly as they could in the near darkness of the tunnel. Neither of them had a torch this time, and were just going by what they could make out from the faint light up ahead, both of them flinching when the tunnel was suddenly illuminated by a sudden orange glow, followed by a wave of heat that was intense even as far back as they were. They glanced at each other worriedly before hastening their pace, the heat growing the closer they got.

When they turned around a last curve, and saw an opening into a wide, lit-up area, Kíli threw up a hand to stop her. Despite the intense heat, Celia felt her blood freeze as they slowly crept closer to the Great Hall, the sounds of an angry dragon growing farther away. Her heart pounding so loudly she was half surprised Smaug didn't hear it, they emerged out of the tunnel and onto an overhang, both stopping there for a moment to take in their surroundings.

It was a huge room, hundreds of feet tall and wide, and there was treasure everywhere. Piles of it; gold coins, and diamonds, and other precious gems almost reaching the roof in some places. Crowns and necklaces lay scattered across and through them, catching the light and shining brightly.

Unable to help themselves, both of them just stopped and stared for a minute at the sight of the sheer wealth in the room - and the greed that had acquired it.

Then another roar sounded, and both of them jumped, turning to each other with wide eyes.

"Where do we go from here?" Celia whispered. "We know he's down that way, somewhere," she gestured down the hall. "But we obviously can't just go after him. We have to try and sneak up on him, or something."

Kíli scanned the room, eyes catching sight of a small door near the bottom of the room. "There!" he cried quietly, pointing. "Look at the scorch marks on the stone around it, they look fresh! I bet that's the way they took. Come on!"

Not bothering to take the stairs, they jumped off the overhang and onto the gold below, noticing how much of it by the door had softened just from being close to Smaug's fire. Wincing, Celia tumbled down the hill with Kíli, the tinkling of gold and jewels following them until they rolled to a stop near the bottom.

Scrambling to their feet, they picked up their bows and staggered across the slippery coins until they reached the tunnel, pushed open the charred door, and darted inside - both silently relieved when there were no unconscious - or otherwise unmoving - bodies inside.

It was a smaller room, with another door at the far end that looked like it led to another tunnel. The door inside was already pushed open, and the dust on the floor had clear footprints leading to it.

Kíli looked her over quickly, making sure she was all right, then set off down the tunnel again, keeping one hand against the wall, and the other on his bow, an arrow ready to be drawn back at a moment's notice. The roars were growing closer now, and every now and again, the tunnel would shake, and dust would rain down upon their heads as they ran.

This time, when Kíli rounded the last corner, he immediately threw himself back behind it, dragging her back with him.

"What, what is it?" she whispered anxiously.

"Smaug," he hissed, placing the arrow on his string and drawing it tight. "He's right there - he was walking past the opening when I looked."

Celia felt herself pale, but made sure her own arrow was at the ready. "Any sign of the others?"

Kíli shook his head. "None. Hold on - I'm going to try looking again." Plastering himself against the wall, he sucked in a quick breath and peered the edge of his head around the corner, trying to spot any sign of the dragon. He blew it out quickly, but flinched when Smaug roared again. "Okay, he's gone, but I think he's spotted the others."

" **Flee! Flee! Run for your lives! There is nowhere to hide,** " a deep voice hissed, filled with sadistic intent. Celia couldn't help but shiver when she recognized who the voice belonged to.

There was some shouting that she recognized as belonging to Dori and Ori, sounding like they were trying to distract the dragon, then Dwalin's voice came from another direction, taunting him.

"Hey you! Over here, you cowardly snake!"

"They must've split up," Kíli whispered. "Trying to distract him long enough for them to get to safety." He turned to her, face deadly serious. "Do you know where they're going? Will they be safe?"

She relaxed her hold on her bow, letting the arrow slide down it. "Originally, they were going to a guardroom, I think. But it was a dead end, so now I think they're trying to make it to the forges. They might be able to defend themselves better there. Originally, yes, they all survived. But Kíli..."

She looked him the eye unhappily and shook her head. "I'm not like Lord Elrond - I don't know what's exactly going to happen in this world. Things could change at any time - things have changed. I don't know what you and I being here is going to do to the timeline, so we need to get moving. Anything could happen from this point on, Kíli. Anything."

He nodded in resignation, glancing back out the tunnel. His eyes widened and he flipped back around, exclaiming in Khuzdul. "Run. Run!" He shouted, shoving her back down the tunnel. He didn't give her the time to protest, propelling her every time she started to slow down.

"What's going on?" she called, nearly dropping her bow in her haste.

He didn't have time to answer, though, as the sound of a raging fire filled the tunnel, and heat licked at their heels. She stifled a shriek as she felt the skin at the back of her neck start to burn, but kept running until she felt cool air on her face, and realized that they were almost back to the room that connected to the tunnel. She slowed to a stop, spinning around to face Kíli, who was doubled over panting, hands on his knees.

"Are you - all right?" she gasped, sucking in deep breaths of air.

He nodded. "I'm fine. Just - winded. And a bit - overheated," he managed between gasps. "You?"

She held up a thumb breathlessly. "Think my neck - is burned," she panted. "But that's all. I think my clothes - protected me. We don't have time for a check-up, though. We have to get going."

He stood up straight. "Let me see," he insisted. Brushing aside her braid to the front of her body, he examined her neck as best as he could in the dim lighting, fingers brushing lightly against the back of her neck. "It's red, but I don't think it's too bad," he informed her at last. "I think this is just from the heat. If you had truly gotten burned, your clothes wouldn't have protected you."

She nodded, turning around. "What about you? If I got hit with the heat, and I was ahead of you, there's no way you didn't get anything. Turn around." He rolled his eyes but complied. "Moving your hair to check on you isn't going to mean I've decided to assassinate you or something, is it?" she asked as she examined his neck. "I just don't know anymore when it comes to dwarves and their precious hair. And you can turn around now. I'm done."

"No, it doesn't mean anything, it's just a bit personal," Kíli told her. "But your my friend and a healer, so it's fine. What's the prognosis? I don't think I was burned, I just got hot."

"You're fine. Bit red, but I'll see if we can get some ointment or something on it when this is all over, maybe check us both out more thoroughly. But now I think we need to get back to them. They're probably at the forge by now. Do you think you can get us there?" she asked.

Kíli nodded, picking up the bow he had dropped when they stopped. "Better hurry," he muttered, leading the way back down the hall as another angry roar sounded. "He does not sound happy."

This time when they reached the end of the tunnel, there was nothing to block their way, although Kíli was careful to scout the hallway before creeping onto the bridge, noticing the rubble blocking the door at the other end of the bridge. "We're gonna have to take a short-cut," he whispered, careful to keep his voice low. "Follow me."

Instead of taking the bridge across the great hall to the other side, he turned to the side and into another side tunnel, clambering over rubble when they came across it. The tunnel lead them up several flights of stairs and around, until Celia was sure that they were twice the height they used to be at.

"There's a bridge we'll have to cross, but once we make it, we should be safe enough," he hissed. "The forge is just a short ways beyond it. I think Smaug's already there - or getting there. There's supposed to be tall pillars in front of it, and I don't think he could fit through them without breaking them."

Scanning the great hall just in case, he led the way across the bridge. Celia tried not to glance down as they ran, focusing on just staying balanced - she wasn't afraid of heights, but there were no railings on the bridge, and a fall from here would mean almost certain death. And this time, when they entered the tunnel, she could make out a red glow coming from the end.

"Either they've lit the furnaces, or Smaug is blowing his fire," Kíli whispered. "We should come out on a level above the ground, so hopefully none of them will think to look up here for us. Including the dragon."

He indicated the end of the tunnel, where it opened up to a small railway against the wall that thankfully had a waist-high wall that would afford some measure of protection. Both laying an arrow against their bow string once more, they crept out into the open room and peered over the top of the wall.

It was huge, filled with several enormous metal furnaces, each at least ten yards high, and glowing with a blazing fire beneath. At the top, was an opening through which melting gold could be seen. An intricate network of troughs and mine carts connected by a conveyor belt lay throughout the room by each of the furnaces, and several dwarf statues stood against the wall, with a set of stairs leading to a platform in between, and she could make out someone - Bilbo? - making his way to the top.

There was lots of shouting, and she could see several of the dwarves running towards a door in the opposite wall. Thorin himself stood in the middle of the room, and Smaug - a huge clang made them look towards the left, where an enormous lattice made of some sort of metal was holding him back for the moment. But it was bending under his weight, and even as they watched, he managed to wrap his talons around an opening and force his way through.

The metal fell to the ground with a crash, and Smaug stormed into the room, a low growl building in his throat. Celia felt her breath catch in her throat just at the sight of him. He was massive, filling the room. Red scales, teeth longer than her, talons sharper than a sword, and a wicked, intelligent look in his eye that was worse than all the rest of him combined, because it promised pain, and that he would derive enjoyment from that pain.

He looked about the room angrily, then caught sight of Bilbo, still making his way up the stairs towards the platform, where a lever was hanging. A soft snarl ripped through him as he began making his way towards the hobbit, and Celia gasped. She tried to rise, but Kíli put his hand on her back and forced her back down.

"He'll see you!" he hissed.

"And he sees Bilbo!" she retorted. "If we don't do anything, he could get killed!"

"Wait. He's turning!" Kíli exclaimed quietly. "What's he - Uncle!"

Smaug had caught sight of Thorin and abandoned his hunt for Bilbo, turning his long neck towards the dwarf king and snarling.

"Now!" Thorin shouted suddenly. He began to back up and run as Smaug lunged towards him, his chest beginning to glow a fiery red just as Bilbo reached the top of the stairs and jumped, pulling down the lever above his head and yanking it with all his might.

There was the sound of rumbling stone before jets of water began pouring out of the mouths of the statues, slamming into Smaug and putting out his fire as he was pushed into the side of a furnace. Roaring furiously, he lifted his two huge wings into the air and began to pump, lifting himself above the ground and thrashing about madly as Kíli and Celia tried to push themselves into the wall to avoid being seen, watching with wide eyes.

Celia caught sight of a massive set of billows pumping up and down and nudged Kíli. "Look! Bombur's fanning the flames! They must be trying to melt the gold for something!" she whispered excitedly.

Bombur was pulling a large chain connected to the billows, and every time he pulled, a blue flame would erupt underneath the furnaces, and the gold on top of the furnaces would melt a little more, cracks growing in the surface as more of the gold beneath melted.

"He's still going after Uncle," Kíli muttered, creeping closer to the middle of the walkway as he tried to get closer to Smaug, who was once again stalking Thorin. "We have to get close enough to hit him in the eyes with these, they're our only chance of being able to take him down. Or slow him down, at least. Our arrows aren't strong enough to kill him." He glanced up. "What are they doing?"

Above Smaug, hung in a bucket that was connected to one of the conveyor belts, Glóin and Bífur were pulling themselves so that they were situated above another belt, laden with buckets of heavy rocks and ores. In the meantime, the rest of the dwarves were trying to distract Smaug, and throwing flash bombs at him that exploded with a blue fire when they made contact with his skin. It did little more than irritate him, however, and he continued on inexorably towards Thorin.

But Glóin and Bífur were now in position, and Glóin took the chance to use his axe to slice through the rope of the conveyor belt below them, dropping the heavy carts, and everything they contained, onto the dragon. He dropped beneath the tons of rock, roaring angrily. Thorin ran toward the furnaces, yelling something, but then Smaug was up again, rearing about furiously as he tried to free himself from the ropes of the conveyor belt.

Celia tried to get a clear shot at his eye, but he was thrashing around too much for her to get the chance. Then one of his wings hit the rope of Glóin and Bífur's conveyor belt, snapping it and sending them hurtling to the floor with a shout. They tumbled out onto the floor at Smaug's feet, miraculously unhurt as they scrambled to their feet. But Smaug had caught sight of them, though, and paused in his wild thrashings, trying to pin them down with one of his claws.

He caught Bífur as he stumbled over a piece of rubble, trapping him beneath his claws as Glóin yelled furiously. But Smaug only laughed maliciously, toying with the toy maker as he smirked -inasmuch as a dragon can smirk - down at him. Taking the chance, Celia drew back the arrow on her bow string, aiming for the center of his eye, sensing Kíli doing the same beside her.

"We're gonna have to run after this," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth, drawing her hand back by her mouth.

"I know," he agreed as he did the same, a smile touching the edge of his lips. "Try and snap off another shot if you can, then run for the tunnel like there's a dragon after you."

Taking a deep breath, Celia closed her eyes, picturing a perfect flight, then opened them and relaxed, releasing her arrow as she breathed out. She'd already drawn and aimed another arrow by the time she realized that Kíli had done the same, and released it, praying silently that their aim would hold true.

Kíli had already taken hold of her hand and was jerking her back towards the tunnel when she finally understood that Smaug was roaring in pain and rage, drawing breath to shoot flame. She could only assume that that meant that they'd hit him. Hopefully. Then they were in the tunnels, and Kíli was pulling her down a different way than they had taken to get there, Smaug roaring behind them, and a rush of heat hitting them as they ran. The ground shook beneath their feet as he seemed to slam into the ground in his fury.

Then - everything seemed to stop for a moment, going quiet - too quiet. She and Kíli paused in the middle of their tunnels, waiting tensely, barely daring to breathe.

Then Smaug chuckled. " **So. You are the one with the different smell. The one who comes from another world. The gate-walker. The pilgrim. I wondered where you were. Are you both in there, or just the one?** " he crooned. Celia glanced up at Kíli with wide eyes, which he returned. Smaug seemed to take their silence for an answer. " **I smelled you all over the thief. Did you come to warn them of me? Of what I might do, _randir_?**" He chuckled darkly. " **Did you foresee this?** "

His voice was growing further away as they both moved. " **Barrel-rider** ," he scoffed. " **You think you could deceive me?** "

Kíli led Celia silently through the new tunnel, leading her to the second floor of a large hall that opened up in the middle to the ground a floor below them, a large statue composed of rocks at one end, and adorned with banners hundreds of feet tall, one of them laying on the floor. Smaug stood in the center, one of his eyes red and leaking blood across the pupil, the stubs of what looked like three arrows protruding from them.

On the bright side, he most likely could no longer use that eye.

On the down side, he was furious.

" **You have come from Lake-town!** " the dragon declared, snarling. " **There is some sort of scheme hatched between these filthy dwarves and those miserable cup-trading Lakemen. Those sniveling cowards with their longbows and Black Arrows!** " He seemed to wince at the mention of Black Arrows, prowling around the room. " **Perhaps it is time I paid them a visit,** " he mused, as if pondering a visit to the grocery store.

There was some rustling before Bilbo came crawling out from underneath the banner on the floor, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead. "Wait. Wait! This isn't their fault! You can't go to Lake-town!" he shouted desperately, running towards him.

Smaug turned around to face him, a sneer on his face. " **You care about them, do you?** " he crooned. " **Good. Then you can watch them die.** " He prowled towards the end of the long hallway, only stopping when a voice called his name.

"Here, you witless worm!" Thorin shouted, standing majestically atop the structure at the other end of the hall that looked vaguely like a dwarf.

Smaug snarled, narrowing his eyes, although the effort visibly pained him. " **You.** "

"I am taking back what you stole," Thorin declared.

Smaug slowly stalked towards him. " **You would take nothing from me, Dwarf. I laid low your warriors of old. I instilled terror in the hearts of men. I am King under the Mountain.** "

His head now level with Smaug's, Thorin didn't look frightened in the slightest, only disgusted. "This is not your kingdom. These are dwarf lands, this is dwarf gold, and we will have our revenge!" he swore.

Celia and Kíli watched open-mouthed as, while Smaug reared back to fire, his chest glowing once more, Thorin called out something in Khuzdul. Reaching above his head, he pulled a rope, causing a large metal pin to fall out behind the statue.

Then, slowly, one after the other, more pins began to fall, and the stones collapsed to the ground, revealing a gold statue of a dwarf king. Distracted by the gold, Smaug moved closer, greed filling his one good eye as Thorin swung away on the rope to avoid the falling rocks. Celia and Kíli crouched closer to the wall.

Apparently, however, the statue was not yet done, and slowly the eyes began to warp, until they exploded in a burst of boiling liquid, turning into a tidal wave of molten gold that advanced inexorably on Smaug, no matter how he tried to escape. He scrambled backwards desperately, but was no match as the wave slammed into him, knocking him beneath a lake made of solid gold. The surface settled into a glass-like state, pure and still.

Then, before anyone could celebrate his premature death, Smaug erupted from the golden lake, covered in liquid gold from head to toe, angry and vicious as he bellowed in pain. Thrashing about as he sought to free himself, he knocked down pillars and banners as he raged.

And though they saw it coming, there was little they could do but roll to the side desperately as one of his gold-covered wings slammed into the stone walkway they were on, crushing it into the wall.

Celia shrieked and dove to the left desperately, trying to avoid both his claws and the falling rocks, unable to help a cry of pain as a rock slammed into her leg, pinning her there and leaving her unable to move as she struggled to free herself.

" **Revenge?** " Smaug roared. " **Revenge? I'll show you revenge, barrel-rider, world-walker! You sought to prevent a catastrophe, and only ended up creating one. This world will burn before me!** " He promised, running down the hallway and taking off, flapping his wings despite the extra weight from the gold. " **I am fire.** " He smashed through the walls, leaping into the air and spinning, leaving a shower of gold falling from his body as he set off towards Lake-town, his wing beats erratic. " **I am... death!"**

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah, okay. Longest chapter I get up in a while (just over 6,000 words) and it's a nice little cliffhanger. But that's okay... that's how the movie ended, or thereabouts. And you only have to wait a week - not an entire year.**

 **Fun fact: Original concepts for this chapter included Ori taking down Smaug, and Smaug capturing Celia, and bringing her to Lake-town. Another concept had him be blinded in both eyes, and he ended up tracking down Elena in Lake-town by her scent alone. (Which he may or may not still do. :D). Oh, and Celia confronting Smaug, and comparing him to Puff.**

 **Also, I've done at least a little bit of research, and considering that dragons are pretty much fire-proof on the outside, I think that the dwarves were more trying to crush/drown him with the gold, than burn him. Gold is seriously dense, and getting hit with that much... would do serious damage, even to a dragon. (As in, if it had been anyone else, they'd be dead, just from the sheer weight of it, ignoring the boiling factor of it, and everything else).**

 **And it wasn't really addressed in the movies, but I've tried to include it at least a little bit here, with both Smaug and some of the Company not escaping completely uninjured. Because let's face it - that's slightly unrealistic, no matter how much we may appreciate it. (Because my story has been SOOO realistic so far, right?)**

 **And we are now officially done with The Desolation of Smaug, and will be moving on to Battle of Five Armies soon!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, ColdOnePaul, Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yeah, sorry. Unfortunately, Thorin gets affected by the gold sickness. And a gold sick Thorin is not a very nice Thorin. And aww, your comment about looking forward to this was so nice, I always get all warm and fuzzy when I see that one of my readers has commented! :D But anyways, no Celia falling to her death (yet)... and Smaug still very much has his sense of smell. Whether or not he puts it to use... well. You'll have to wait and see. ;) Thanks for the awesome review, and I hope you like it! :D**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: Haha, well that's always good to hear! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well... seeing as not everyone escaped Smaug unscathed... ;)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: Eh... let's just say that there will be a very dramatic reunion regarding Laurel and Thranduil (Legolas may be elsewhere) very soon... mwahahaha. Lots of drama. Oodles of it. And why on earth would I kill off Thorin, Kíli, and Fíli when I have Celia and Elena? *more evil laughter* I can't make any promises yet... Hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Awww, that's so nice you're going to make me cry... I seriously love it when I get awesome reviews like that, that tell me how much they enjoy my story... they just make my day. Seriously, thanks. :) Celia and Kíli are here... and you should be getting Fíli and Elena next chapter... And I hope it's worth it! 6,000 words, and most of it action... *Ugh* Not my forte, so here's hoping it turns out okay! Hope you like it! :)**_

 _ **E: Yeah, Bífur's spear probably was a tad unrealistic, but in their defense, they were kind of just throwing ideas out there. And maybe hoping that it just might work. :) And Thorin said no, but she didn't listen, because she has stubbornness issues. (Which absolutely no one else on the quest does, right?) Thanks for an awesome review, I hope it was able to live up to your expectations! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Celia and Elena.**


	41. Chapter 41 - Moves and Countermoves

~~ Elena ~~

~~ _Three days earlier_ ~~

Elena kept her eyes on her sister for as long as she could, keeping a bright smile on her face as she waved with her good arm. She could feel Fíli and Óin behind her, both of them keeping silent in the crowd of cheering citizens. At last she dropped her hand and turned to face the others, her thoughts racing.

"So, what now?"

"What now?" Fíli repeated.

She nodded patiently. "What do we do now? Where do we go from here? I don't know about you, but I trust the Master about as far as I can throw him," she muttered, glancing over Óin's shoulder at the Master, who was stumbling down from his perch with the aid of Alfrid, a glass of wine already in his hand.

Fíli followed her gaze and grimaced. "No, I can't say that I want any of us - particularly you - being anywhere near him. He's far too concerned with his own interests."

Óin nodded. "I'd say the only reason he agreed to help us was to make himself look good."

"That, and to spite Bard," Elena added, looking around the waterway for the smuggler despite herself. "They don't get along because Bard looks out for the people, and manages to outsmart the Master. Just look at how he got us here."

"We were all almost caught, and you were tipped overboard into freezing water, and forced to cling to a rope in an attempt to survive until we stopped," Fíli deadpanned.

"And yet we still didn't get caught until Thorin decided to go and steal some weapons," Elena pointed out. She caught herself and shook her head. "But this petty bickering is pointless right now. Bofur wasn't on either of the boats, which means he should be here soon, and then we need to go find Bard."

"Bard? Why do we need to go find - Bofur!" Fíli cut himself off as the miner ran up to them, smelling of cheap wine and panting heavily.

"So you missed the boat too, eh?" he asked, resting his hands on his knees, before wrinkling his nose and frowning at Elena. "But you're a randir. Would've thought Thorin'd try to bring you along, what with them going towards the mountain and all."

"You'd think," Elena muttered, turning and starting to navigate her way through the now dispersing crowd. "Does anyone remember how to find Bard's house from here? I don't, and we're going to need his help."

"Help for what?" Fíli repeated, catching up to her, with the two others following at a slower pace. "A place to stay? I don't think he's going to want to help us anymore, Elena. Uncle kind of..."

"Burned the bridge, yeah. And then the supports. And then he dug up the road leading to the bridge. I think he kind of does that a lot," Elena snarked, still making her way determinedly down the wooden pathways. "Seriously, though, we're going to need his help. And I can't talk about it here." She lowered his voice so only the three around her could hear. "Not when the Master has his spies all about the place. It'd be too easy for someone to overhear something and ruin everything."

Fíli narrowed his eyes at her then nodded, pulling ahead of her and leading the way down the pathway. Bofur and Óin kept pace with them as they walked, casting concerned and confused glances at Elena as they went.

Fíli took them down several turns and alleyways until they had arrived at the front of a house she vaguely recognized as being Bard's. He glanced back at her and looked around cautiously for anyone who might be watching before climbing the steps to the front door and rapping on it gently with his knuckles as they followed.

They waited in silence for a minute, hearing footsteps approaching the door. Elena swallowed hard, feeling butterflies flutter in her stomach as the door swung open to reveal Bard. He stared at them for a moment before scowling.

"No. I'm done with dwarves. Go away."

He tried to swing the door shut, but Bofur stuck his foot in the door before he could close it. "Please. We need your help. It's important."

"With what?" Bard demanded. "What could you possibly need help with that the Master couldn't give you?"

"A Black Arrow," Elena whispered, stepping forward.

Bard stared at her like she'd gone mad, Óin and Bofur doing the same. "What?"

"I said, a Black Arrow," she repeated, raising her voice just the tiniest bit. "But I don't think it's exactly safe to talk out here in the open. That's why we came to you."

Bard narrowed his eyes at her, seeming to weigh something in his mind before pulling the door open and ushering them inside reluctantly. "Hurry in, then, before someone sees you." He waited until they were all inside before glancing about outside and shutting the door. He stood in front of it, crossing his arms. "Now do you mind telling me what all this is about? And why would you come to me for a Black Arrow? Do you hope to use it to take down Smaug?" he asked sarcastically.

Elena fiddled with her thumbs and took a deep breath. Here went nothing. "Smaug is most likely going to attack Lake-town shortly after our party reaches the mountain, and we need to stop him. You have at least one Black Arrow in your possession, and are probably one of the few archers around capable of shooting it."

Fíli's head swung around to stare at her, while Óin fumbled with his hearing trumpet, and Bofur mumbled something about drinking, whacking himself on the head once or twice.

Bard somehow managed to stand even taller, drawing his head back and tensing. "And how would you know such a thing? Are you an elf, that you have such foresight?"

She shook her head slightly, a faint smile playing about her lips. "No, just a girl from Aspen Falls who loves to read." She dropped her brief humor and looked him in the eyes. "How far away is Erebor from here? How long will it take the Company to reach it?"

Bard frowned at the non sequitur, but answered the question. "About three days travel. Two by boat, then around a half day's walk. Less, if you ride. Why?"

Elena nodded to herself, thinking hard before speaking aloud. "Because then we have probably around three days at the least, maybe four or five at the most, before Smaug possibly awakens and attacks here. I came here to tell you that because we need to try and evacuate Lake-town if we can, and use the Black Arrow to kill him if they are unable to do so at the mountain."

Bard shook his head, staring at her in disbelief. "And you expect me to, what? Smuggle the entire population out of here on my boat, while the Master looks on, all on the word of a dwarf girl? What excuse should I give him for believing you, before he throws me into prison to rot, and leaves my children to starve?"

"She gave you her word, that should be enough," Fíli interrupted, stepping forward protectively. "She's trying to warn you of a disaster, you should be thanking her, not questioning her."

Bard fixed the prince with his dark eyes. "And doubtless I would be grateful, Master Dwarf, if there were to be a disaster. But you understand, there are many in this world who would threaten disaster, and few who see it fulfilled. If I were to hearken to every one, I would never get a moment's rest."

Elena nodded. "I understand that, Master Bard," she said respectfully. "And while I am not an elf, nor gifted with foresight, I have knowledge of what may come, and what has passed. And further, rather than giving vague riddles as an elf or wizard might do, I intend to help save as many lives as possible."

Bard switched his gaze to her, calculating. "You say you know the future, yet you plan to use it, and are willing to share your knowledge. And on the boat, you and your sister - there was an air of secrecy about you. You spoke of being set apart in some way. Were you given knowledge of the future in some way?"

Elena didn't answer at first, weighing the possible consequences of telling him or not, but eventually had to acknowledge the fact that he likely wouldn't believe her otherwise. "Yes. I'm a randir," she admitted at last. When he showed no sign of recognition at the term, she glanced at Fíli, who had tensed at her admission. "Uh, Fíli? Is there another term for it, maybe, that was a bit more common?"

Fíli frowned. "Have you heard of the world-walkers?" he asked the 'older' man. "Someone who's traveled through a gate, or a portal, to another world, or from there to here, in times of distress?"

Bard's eyes widened. "A wanderer," he breathed, before looking down at Elena and nodded thoughtfully. "There were legends, when I was growing up, of those who wandered between worlds, granted gifts of great power and meaning by the Valar. They came to help us prepare for, and prevent, great disasters. I thought there were no more to come. At least, not now, in our time." He paused. "And the legends always told of a swift punishment that befell any who dared lay claim to their title without cause."

He stopped and placed a hand on his chin, eyeing Elena thoughtfully. "So what is the great disaster you come to prevent, if your tale is true? Lake-town is small, and many towns like it have been destroyed with no sign of a wanderer present. If it was to prevent Smaug from attacking, doubtless you would have traveled with your sister, to seek him in his mountain."

"Our mountain," Bofur interposed, looking bewildered by the whole conversation, but still insulted by the implication. "Smaug may be in it, but it's still our mountain. And the plan is still to kill the dragon. Thorin just left Elena here 'cause her arm was injured last night. She insisted on finding you, because apparently you have a Black Arrow?" he ended curiously.

Bard didn't answer the implied question, just kept his gaze on Elena. She sighed but nodded. "Smaug will wake up soon, one way or the other, with or without us. He was bound to, especially after sleeping for so long. And this is the closest source of food, to him."

Her eyes flickered down to the ground. "Lake-town will most likely be destroyed, but I had hoped to use the time before they get there to evacuate the town, if possible. Hide the people somewhere, and kill Smaug. The arrow that your ancestor shot hit him, and he has an opening somewhere on his left chest, although I'm not exactly sure where."

Bard sucked in a breath, glancing to a room further down in the house. "Then Girion's aim was true," he murmured.

Elena nodded. "Yes. And should the Company fail -" she closed her eyes briefly, "to kill him in the mountain, we can hopefully use that to kill him here. Because if he survives, he could ally with, uh-" she hesitated, glancing at the others. "Certain forces of evil, and pose a threat capable of wiping out life on Middle Earth as we know it. As it is, there is already something coming. And we have to take out Smaug before they get here. I'm sorry, I don't know how much I can tell you, usually I rely on Gandalf for this sort of thing," she muttered unhappily, looking down at her hands.

Bard tilted his head to the side and studied her, his face impassive. "So you want me to evacuate the entire town in three days? Do you have any idea how long that would take me, even if the Master weren't likely to arrest me on sight?"

"What if you had help?" Elena countered. "Surely you're not the only bargeman in a town literally built on the water. And couldn't you just tell people it's a precaution, just because they're advancing on the mountain? Wouldn't they let you, if it was a matter of keeping the people safe?"

Bard snorted, turning and walking to his kitchen, jerking his head in a clear indication for them to follow him. "I am not the only bargeman, Lady Elena, but without the permission of the Master, I can do nothing. Even if I were to bring up the dragon, doubtless he would arrest me first, and then escape on his own, and leave the people here to fend for themselves. Besides which, there was a feast last night. He will most likely still be drinking, and has been known to make commands and forget them an hour later, or pass out for hours at a time."

Elena's eyes lit up with an idea. "Would you need papers, for something like this, or would the guards just hearing his voice be enough for something like this? Or maybe even Alfrid's, since he's his right-hand man."

Bard glanced at her curiously as he stopped by the kitchen table, pots hanging from the ceiling above their head, but actually thought about it. "If the guards were to hear him speak, yes, that's enough. But it would be far too easy for him to take it back later. Alfrid might be easier, but he would never agree."

"What are you thinking, El?" Fíli muttered, watching her as he leaned against the table easily.

She grinned at him and Bard. "What if I told you that we didn't need the Master, or Alfrid?"

Bard raised an eyebrow. "I would be skeptical as to how you came to that conclusion."

She tilted her head at him. "I think you'd be surprised to find what I can do when I put my mind to it," she sneered in a near perfect impersonation of Alfrid's nasally voice. When Bard drew back and stared at her with wide eyes, she grinned and returned to her normal voice. "I'm a mimic. I can copy people's voices. Think it'll come in handy?"

Bard slowly shook his head and chuckled. "It might. But, I know of one more thing." Reaching above him, he pulled the various pots and pans down on to the table, before reaching upwards once more and pulling down the 'rack' they had been hanging on, revealing a long, heavy black arrow with a twisted steel head, looking sharp and dangerous.

"Bless my beard," Bofur muttered. "A Black Arrow!"

Bard nodded. "It is the only one left. The others were lost when Smaug first attacked, and everyone believed this one to be lost as well." He glanced down at Elena, running a hand along the shaft of the arrow. "Which is why I believed you. No one knew of the existence of this arrow, not even my own children. There is no way you could have learned of this in your short time here, and there have not been dwarves in Lake-town otherwise for many a year."

Fíli looked over the arrow, marveling at it before turning back to Bard, his voice grave. "Can you fire this? It cannot be fired by a normal bow."

Bard nodded. "Aye. There's a wind lance on one of the towers that could shoot it. It's how the others were fired. If the dragon attacks, and he's missing a scale on his chest, I can attack him there. But he'd have to be facing the right way, and we'd only have one shot at killing him that way," he cautioned.

"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves," Elena jumped back in. "For all we know, they'll be able to kill Smaug in the mountain, and all this worry and preparation will be for nothing. For now, I think we need to focus on getting people out of here, except for the soldiers and guards. We can try and come up with something while that's in progress then. So, how can we find a way to at least make it appear that the Master wants us to evacuate?"

"Could we make it appear like the Master just called from in the distance? Or sent the greasy man to do it for him?" Bofur interjected, leaning forward and eyeing the arrow with interest. "Would that be believable?"

Bard shook his head immediately. "It's the day after a feast, and a wonder he was sober enough to deliver a speech this morning. He'll be drinking and sleeping all day today, no doubt. Hearing his voice outside would be strange, and for him not to immediately draw attention to himself would draw even more attention to the area. And Alfrid tends to wait on him hand and foot, especially on days like today, where he can try and profit from it.

"Sneak into his house, then, and drug his wine," Óin proposed. "I've got a few herbs in my satchel that would be just right. Prop him up against a window, he's in sight, and Elena uses her voice to order the guards to evacuate. Bofur or I could easily cause a distraction while they climb in."

Bard thought about it for a moment and then frowned, slowly shaking his head. "That wouldn't work either. When he woke up, he'd either cancel the order, or demand that he leaves first, and that we stay here. It'd have to be a situation where it was incredibly public, or he agreed to it, though I don't see how we could get that to happen."

Elena rubbed the back of her neck with her good hand, another idea slowly beginning to bubble in her mind. A horrible idea, no doubt, but it might work better than all the rest. "I have another idea," she said slowly, not meeting anyone's eyes. "It's a bit bolder, but it might work better for that."

Fíli sighed heavily. "I'm not going to like it, am I? I can tell already."

She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

xXx

"For the record? I hate this plan. And the only reason I'm even going along with this is because this is the only idea any of us had that Bard thought came even remotely close to working. And I still hate it. Immensely."

Elena rolled her eyes as she forced herself to walk nonchalantly towards the Master's mansion, Fíli hovering so close beside her he was practically on top of her. "I am aware of that, yes. You've told me. Multiple times. And so has Bofur. And Óin. And even Bard seemed uncomfortable. Do you think that I want to do this? Because I really, really don't. But I'm the only one who has the ability to mimic voices if this thing goes south, so I need to be in there. And I'm technically nobility, which he's aware of. He doesn't know that you're a prince," she hissed. "And we should probably keep that a secret until further notice. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Yeah, well, there's a good chance, knowing your luck, that you will be the one to get hurt in this somehow!" Fíli hissed back unhappily, keeping his face impassive. "Just because he recognized you as nobility last night when Thorin was right there doesn't mean that he will today! You heard Bard! The man's a drunkard! For all we know he could throw us in prison, and then where would we be?"

Elena took a deep breath, but refused to let any of her tension show on her face. "The man only cares about one thing, Fíli: himself. If we pose it in a light where he gets praise, honor, wealth, whatever, he'll be sure to go along with it. Especially when it's offered by someone he sees as in a high position. He seems to respect power. Or at the very least, crave it. And before you say anything, it couldn't just be you. I have to come along, and he'd wonder why I was just hanging out silently in the background, especially since I'm a lady."

Fíli huffed. "Not to mention, he's a condescending fool who no doubt believes you know nothing simply because you're female."

"Shh! We're getting close," Elena muttered, holding her head high and, borrowing a trick from Thorin, managed to somehow appear to look down her nose while looking up at the guards as they barred their way to the Master's mansion.

"Halt! State your business!" one of them snapped.

Elena narrowed her eyes at him, calling on all the acting skills she had used in Mirkwood as she spoke in an arrogant tone. "I am here to speak to the Master regarding the business that occurred last night and this morning. I believe it would be beneficial to the both of us, and lucrative for him," she said loftily.

The guards drew back and conversed among themselves before one of them darted into the mansion, returning a few minutes later. "The Master will see you," he announced, followed a minute later by the huffing Master, red-faced and glancing around the open area, where people had stopped to watch.

"Ah, you were at the party last night!" the Master exclaimed in surprise, peering at Elena. "What are you doing here, Lady er, Eliana? I would have thought that you would leave with the rest of your group."

Elena didn't bother correcting him on her name. Shifting her act to become a little more innocent, she faked a smile up at the rotund man, Alfrid coming out behind him. "I discussed it with Thorin, and we both believed that I might be of more use, and more helpful to you here in Lake-town."

"Helpful?" the Master parroted. "How on earth could you possibly be useful to me?" He seemed to realize the way that sounded a moment later, hastily following it with "I mean, of course, in that you are our guest! Why should you bother to try and help us?"

"Well, I was supposed to deliver some news to you," Elena admitted, adding a bit of shame and hope to her voice. "We thought that the dragon might pose a risk to you if it wakes up before we can kill it, so we were wondering if you could give an order to evacuate the women and children of Lake-town as a precaution for the next few days?" she said, a soft pleading hint to her voice.

The Master furrowed his brow. "Evacuate Lake-town?" he said incredulously.

She nodded, Fíli standing stoically behind her. "We were impressed with the way you wanted to look out for your people first yesterday, and thought it might ease your mind if you were all in a safer place. And I know we already promised you gold to help you rebuild, but thought it only fair for us to offer you some gold for relocating while we took care of the dragon," she mentioned casually, seeing his interest peak when she mentioned the word 'gold,' and some of the townspeople take a far greater interest in the conversation now, whispering to each other.

The Master just stared at her. "You wish to offer us more gold, to evacuate the town?"

She nodded seriously. "Thorin spoke to you of a mission, correct?" When he nodded she continued. "My mission here is to ensure that all our neighbors are prosperous and safe, and I'm starting now. You can use the gold we give you to rebuild your town to greater heights than it was even before the dragon attacked, and not lose a single woman or child. As Master of Lake-town, of course, you would receive the most gold."

"Gold," the Master repeated mutely, a greedy look on his face before a shrewd look entered his eye. "You have the authority to treat with me, and the authority to promise me this gold, in your leader's absence?"

Fíli stepped forward then, an almost bored look on his face. "Lady Elena is nobility belonging to Erebor, and has full authority to treat with leaders granted her by the heir to the throne of Erebor, as stated by the heir himself," he stated, stepping back to stand behind her.

The Master looked at the both of them in a new light. "And who is this?" he questioned, gesturing to Fíli. "Did Thorin leave you under his charge?"

Elena fought the urge to react to the question and all its implications in an impulsive manner. "This is Fíli, Son of Dis. He... has agreed to look out for me here as my guard."

The Master nodded. "Ah, good. Quite right. Why don't the two of you come inside and we can discuss this properly. And, ah, as a show of good faith, I'll send out the orders right now." Turning to Alfrid, he tapped his nose knowingly. "Alfrid, go round up Bard and the other bargemen, and have them start evacuating the woman and children to the ruins near the forest of Mirkwood right away. I want to keep my people safe, you see," he added, smiling through yellowed teeth at Elena and Fíli as Alfrid nodded, muttering the appropriate servile responses before running off.

"A very praiseworthy trait," Fíli murmured as they followed the Master into the house, through several hallways - that reeked of alcohol and vomit - and into a small room with several chairs in it.

"I try," the Master said modestly, ringing for a servant and ordering a drink. When it arrived, along with two more, he offered it to them, although he didn't seem too put out when they refused, swallowing all three of them quickly.

"So then, shall we make a contract?" he said magnanimously. "I have already sent for the first boats to be loaded, and I will offer you both a safe place to stay here in my mansion until such time as you can be evacuated, in exchange for enough gold to build an appropriate house for myself, and any such noble guests as yourself I may have," he offered to Fíli.

Fíli exchanged a knowing glance with Elena, and a veiled look of sheer disgust at the thought of either of them staying in the house for any longer than they had to. "Neither of us will need to be evacuated. Our task is to stay here and help preserve the town, if we can," he explained. "Nor would we need a place to stay. We have adequate lodgings, but please accept our gratitude. Your other terms sound acceptable, and we would be agreeable to signing a contract with you."

"Nonsense. I insist you stay here," the Master countered. "There is no other place in town worthy of holding such auspicious guests as yourselves. It would be remiss of me as a host to let you leave. I will take care of the contract, please wait here and enjoy yourselves," he said hastily, getting to his feet and shaking Fíli and Elena's hands. "I shall return shortly," he promised, making his heavy way to the door and closing it behind him.

"I can't wait," Elena muttered dryly, wiping her hand on her pants, only then noticing the perturbed look on Fíli's face. "Fíli? What's wrong?"

He shook his head, creeping to the door and placing his ear against it, listening for a moment before placing his hand on the doorknob and twisting it slightly. It didn't budge.

"We're locked in," he said quietly.

* * *

 **A/N: That darn Master. Such a sneaky bugger. You can't turn your back on him for one minute. I wonder what on earth he could be doing...**

 **And for the record, yes, he is actually evacuating Lake-town. (For now, at least). The promised gold is a big motivator, however, that's not the only one...**

 **And I feel like Bard is really OOC this chapter, sorry guys. :( Let's just blame it on finding out everything that's going on...**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, ColdOnePaul, and E for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Child of Dreams: No... what? I can't do much with just that, aside from laugh at your pain. *ahem* I mean, promise to try and create no pain for our characters...**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yeah, maybe he can fit it in in Lake-town? And yep. Celia needed that little bit of something called awareness, and Kíli gave it to her. Definitely stuck between a rock and a hard place. And who knows what happened to Kíli? ;D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Aww, thanks! I was kind of worried about it, but I guess evil maniacs are easy for me to write (should I be concerned? Probably. Am I bothering to be? No). Not much Fíli/Elena this chapter, sorry. Just worried!Fíli. Next chapter, though... mwahahaha. Thanks, and I hope you like this chapter! :D**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: Well that's good! Glad to see you liked it that much! Any alterations will be seen soon enough. And basically, Smaug is fairly old. He's seen some things. Let's just say that he's come across a randir or two before... :/ He's a servant of evil, too, so he would be well versed in dangers to him - and randir definitely count as such. Thanks for reviewing! :)**_

 _ **E: Yep. Kíli is a master of being stubborn, but is capable of being mature when he needs to be - or, more to say, when she needs him to be. ;) And I'm glad you like where I took the last chapter, and didn't see everything coming. :D Also, sorry, but no fire and destruction this chapter... possibly the next, however... will that work? Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I'm not Tolkien, unfortunately, so only Elena and Celia are mine.**


	42. Chapter 42 - Cloaks and Daggers

~~ Elena ~~

Elena sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Then Bard was right," she said softly. "What do you make of it?"

Fíli leaned his ear against the door, listening carefully before dropping to the floor and peering under it. "No one's outside right now, but keep your voice low," he whispered.

Walking over to the closed window on the other wall, he placed his fingers between the wood shutters and pulled, his fingers straining as he tried unsuccessfully to move it. Pulling out a small knife, he dug it between the shutters and slid it down the length of it, stopping when he heard a small click. This time when he pulled, the shutters began to open with a creak, and he quickly stopped, returning them to their original position.

"At least we have a way out, just in case," he muttered, returning to sit by her and hiding his dagger again. "Do you remember what the plan is?"

She nodded, surreptitiously feeling for her own dagger, and making sure it was easy to reach. "And the excellent back-up plan - jump out the window and run for it if things go south. The Master is fairly predictable, however. As long as we make it seem like he's in charge, and will be getting rewarded for it, he shouldn't cause too many problems." She grimaced. "Except for the part about staying here. I really, really don't want to do that. I feel tense enough just sitting here."

Fíli scowled at the table beside him. "Neither do I. But now that he's brought it up, I don't know that we'll be able to get out of it, especially since he's the Master of Lake-town, and we're both high-ranking guests. It would be expected that we stay with him." He sighed. "He probably wouldn't try anything that might threaten him getting his gold, though, so we should be safe enough. I'll see if we can avoid it, or get out of it, if we get the chance."

Elena hummed thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on her leg. "Bard warned us about that, though. That he might try and keep us here. As insurance on the contract, or possibly even a ransom-type situation if it came down to it."

She cast him a look. "But Fíli, we'll probably need to stay here. Or at least seem like we agree to it. Otherwise he might cancel the evacuation. And I want as many people to be as far from here as possible before he comes. Not to mention we need the distraction so that Óin and Bofur can get the Black Arrow up to the watchtower without anyone noticing."

"I know, I know," Fíli agreed reluctantly. "And there's still the chance that they might be able to kill him in the mountain, and then none of this will be needed. But I hate that you have to be here for this." He snorted. "I hate that _I_ have to be here for this. I think I've been less tense waiting to tell Amad that I broke one of her favorite decorations as a child."

"What's she like?" Elena asked curiously. "If you don't mind, I mean. It could help pass the time. Is she like Thorin, or a complete opposite, or...?"

Fíli grinned despite himself. "She definitely looks like Thorin. Kíli takes after both of them. I'm one of the odd ones out at the dinner table, with my light hair. She's definitely a Durin in temperament, too. She's probably the only one who can out-stubborn Thorin, and gives just as good as she gets. She's also one of the only ones he'll listen to in tough situations. They rely on each other."

"Did she want to come on the quest? Or did she think it was foolhardy and that you should all stay home?" Elena asked with interest, before cracking a grin. "Or did she decide to stay home and keep things from falling apart while you were gone?"

Fíli considered the questions. "Yes, to all three?" he said hesitantly at last. "She thought about coming, but I think she wanted to give Smaug a fighting chance. She also thought Thorin was an idiot for wanting to go in the first place, and told him so repeatedly."

He winced, looking down at the floor. "Not to mention when she found out we were going with him. But she had to stay there to look after our people, since Kíli and I were going with Uncle. She made us promise to come back to her." He raised his head to look at her. "What about your mother? The one who raised you back - there?" he asked carefully, remembering the potential ears that might be listening.

Elena laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly as she remembered who exactly their mother was. "Uh, funny that you should, uh, mention that. There's something that I may or may not have told you that might be considered important. But uh, in my defense, it's something I only found out recently, and we haven't really had the chance to discuss it yet."

"Is it serious?" Fíli asked, furrowing his brow in concern. "Is something wrong?"

She scratched her chin, avoiding his gaze. "You might think so after I tell you. Thorin - " She winced. "Thorin will probably be unhappy. Which is part of the reason I haven't brought it up yet. That, and I'm still trying to come to terms with it myself."

Fíli frowned, but then tensed in his chair, his attention shifting to the door. "Someone's coming," he muttered. "Their step is heavy, so it might be the Master." Leaning back in his chair, he assumed a relaxed position, affecting a casual air as the door open and the Master came in, smelling heavily of alcohol and holding a sheet of paper in one hand. A servant trailed behind him, an inkwell and a pen in hand as he set them down on the table before waiting behind him, a guard taking up position by the door and watching them carefully.

"So sorry about the wait," the Master blustered, placing the paper on the table and ordering another round of drinks. "Had to make sure that the evacuation had been started, and that the paper was worded correctly, you know. I have a duty to perform, after all. Not that I am doubting your word, Master Dwarf," he said hastily. "Merely that I have written the contract so that it is legally sound."

"Of course," Fíli agreed easily, taking up the sheet of paper and studying it. " _To aid the Master and citizens of Lake-town after their evacuation of Lake-town, we promise an amount of gold to be settled upon by both parties as deemed necessary to aid in the rebuilding, after such destruction as may be caused from our quest has passed, so that the Master might look after his duties properly_ ," he read aloud, nodding slowly. "It's clear enough to understand. And certainly sound. Lady Elena and I shall both sign it, giving our solemn word that we will ensure you are able to rebuild, should anything go amiss, and reward you for your foreplanning in evacuating the town."

He waited until the Master was occupied with his drinks, then made a few small changes before signing his name to it at the bottom, where the Master had already scribbled his signature, passing it and the pen to Elena. She smiled slightly as she looked it over, noticing a few subtle differences added that ensured the Master couldn't take much advantage of it.

They'd discussed that in advance, Bard having warned them that he would likely word the contract, if he agreed to it, so that he might take advantage of it. Dipping the pen in the inkwell and making sure it wouldn't drip too badly, she scrawled her title next to Fíli's, making sure to use only her first name and title to avoid any awkward questions regarding her human-sounding last name. Leaving the paper on the table to dry, she turned back to the Master.

"The contract is signed, and we thank you for your willingness to look after your people," she said gracefully. "And if it is acceptable to you, might we aid in the preparations for the evacuation? I would like to report to Thorin that we were not idle as we waited."

The Master seemed to think about it for a minute before nodding heavily - although it could just be his head sagging as the alcohol made its way through his body - and glanced over the contract, smiling to himself at the sight of their signatures.

Folding the contract and placing it in his coat, he stood to his feet and gestured for them to follow him as he walked back through the mansion, stumbling occasionally. "Of course, of course. I would not want to hamper you in your duties. I shall go along with you, to show you the way. Come along, Braga," he called to his guard. "I don't wish for us to be disturbed by ruffians as we do our duty."

Elena kept a wary ear out behind her as the guard - someone she recognized as having been among the group that had captured them when they had tried to steal some weapons from the armory - lumbered behind them, making sure to stick close to Fíli. Both of them heaved a small sigh of relief as they left the house and felt the sun on them once more, even the obnoxious smell of dead fish better than the damp stink of the Master's house.

The Master led them down towards the area they had all gathered earlier to watch the rest of the Company leave, where several large boats were being loaded up with men, women and children, kept in sharp order by the guards snapping orders and glaring menacingly. There was a large crowd of people sitting along the path, a small pile of supplies - that looked to be brought by the people, not supplied by the Master - off to the side.

Bard was aboard one boat, showing them where to sit, although he was much gentler in his handling of the passengers. He glanced up at them as they arrived, but quickly turned back to his work, careful not to show a reaction.

"Everything's in order, Sir," Alfrid announced, joining them. " _All_ your orders are being obeyed."

The Master nodded pompously, a smile that held no good-will creeping across his face briefly. "Of course they are. I run a tight ship." He laughed at his own joke, Alfrid following after after a moment's silence. He turned back to Fíli and Elena. "As you can see, we have everything under control. We are taking them to the edge of Mirkwood's boundaries, where we pick up our barrels from them. They shall be hidden from sight by the woods, and far enough away from the lake that no harm can reach them from here. And of course, several of my guards shall be staying there to protect them."

Elena smiled and nodded. "Thank you. I know this places a strain on your expenses, having to pay for all this, so we will consider that when we make the plans for repayment. Master Fíli, shall we go aid with the supplies being brought on board?"

Fíli nodded, cutting off the Master's response. "That would be best." He glanced up at the Master. "You need not wait around for us, Sir. We shall most likely be helping all day."

The Master looked disgruntled for a minute, but quickly assumed an ingratiating smile. "Of course. Alfrid shall stay here to look after you, and I shall leave Braga behind as well to ensure your safety. I would not want you to come to harm," he assured them. "Alfrid," he addressed the greasy man beside him, "Stay with Lady Eliana and her guardian. Make sure no one troubles them," he said with emphasis.

Alfrid nodded. "I understand, Sir," he promised, coming to stand by the two dwarves. "I'll look after them."

The Master nodded in return, beckoning Braga to come stand behind them and turning to leave, two of the guards from the crowd coming to follow behind him as he left, speaking quietly to them. One of the guards split off and headed down a side alley, the other following the Master as he returned to his house.

"Where would you like to go first, Master Dwarf?" Alfrid asked, standing close to Elena but looking at Fíli.

"Let's go help with the supplies," Elena said immediately, stepping away from Alfrid as quickly as she could without seeming to run. "We can load those onto the boats. Come on, Master Fíli!" she called, making her way through the people and around the various objects in the way to the small stack of supplies. It was painfully clear that the people would be expected to provide their own food, and as had been pointed out by Bard the day before, it was in short supply.

Stooping down to grab several small sacks that could fit into her one hand - as Óin had been very clear about avoiding straining her arm for the next day or two - she stopped by a guard and waited until she had his attention, choosing to ignore the sneer on his face as he - literally - looked down at her. "Does it matter where I put these?"

He looked behind her skeptically and saw Alfrid, who waved a hand in the air. "The Master has said we are to give them our aid. Let her help, if she so wishes."

"It doesn't matter where you put them," the guard acquiesced reluctantly. "Just place it on a boat by a guard to ensure it doesn't get stolen and it'll get there, one way or another."

Elena forced a smile and nodded her thanks, swinging the sacks over her shoulder and heading for Bard's boat. She'd seen, and felt, firsthand just how "noble" some of the guards of Lake-town were, and had little doubt that if the guards had control of all the food, the people would struggle even more to find enough food to survive. She stepped onto the gangplank to the boat carefully, making sure she had her balance before continuing.

Ignoring the guard standing at the front of the boat, she made her way to Bard, who had just finished helping an elderly woman sit down with her grandchild, a small bag tucked into her lap. "Here's some of the food," she muttered without looking at him as she placed the sacks by the steering pole. "Figured it'd be safer with you than with the guards."

He nodded sharply, his face set, but Alfrid cut off any reply he might have made. "Er, Lady Eliana, might I suggest that you return to the path? Bard's boat will be leaving soon, and I doubt that you'd want to place your safety in his hands. He's more used to barrels than passengers."

"Yes, thank you, Master Alfrid," she called complacently, running lightly back down the gangplank to gather more supplies. "I am quite capable of taking care of myself, but I appreciate your concern. You need not worry about me."

She managed to make two more trips before Bard pushed off, poling away down the small canal to the open lake, quickly followed by the other two boats, all filled with nervous people chattering anxiously among themselves.

Using the commotion as an opportunity to escape Alfrid and Braga, Elena dodged around the two of them and made her way to the market, where there was another large crowd of people trying to buy and sell before they were evacuated.

Stopping by a market stall, she bought an apple with one of the few coins she had left and ate it hungrily, ignoring the odd, and occasionally accusatory, looks she got from everyone. The food was more important.

She was halfway through it when Fíli suddenly appeared beside her, startling her so much that she choked on her bite of apple and he had to thump her on the back until she managed to cough it up. "Thanks for scaring me," she rasped, still coughing.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," he said apologetically. "I found Óin. We managed to talk for a minute before Braga came along, and he had to leave before he was found out."

"What'd he say?" Elena asked curiously, returning to her apple as they wandered around the marketplace. Óin and Bofur had stayed behind as both a means of rescue if needed, and a way to pass information along to Bard, or the other way around.

"Nothing good," he grunted. "Bard's children are locked up in his house. They couldn't leave if they wanted to."

"What?" she demanded incredulously, almost dropping her apple. "Why? What's going on?"

Fíli shrugged. "Óin didn't know. But guards stopped by shortly after we left for the Master's mansion, and took Bard away to load the boats. One of them stayed behind to guard the door and keep them in. Bofur stayed there to keep an eye out, and Óin came here to let us know. From what he can tell, the Master is going to keep them here as long as possible - he might even refuse to let them leave. He's holding it over Bard's head until he does what he wants him to."

"And since we technically aren't associated with Bard, we would have no way of knowing what's going on," Elena realized.

"They could end up stuck here when Smaug attacked," Fíli finished. "And we can't do anything about it. Not now, when there's still too many people here. They'll look out for them as best as they can, but there's nothing else we can do. Not without creating a situation that could make things worse."

Elena glared at the ground, angrily taking a bite of her apple and swallowing it. "When all this is over, if all of us have survived, I might just have to go rogue so I can hunt him down without the rest of you guys getting in trouble. Placing children in danger of being killed, blackmail, starving the people he's supposed to protect." She growled under her breath. "Leave him locked up in his house when there's a fire coming, and no food. See how much he likes it then."

"You probably wouldn't be alone," Fíli informed her. "We try not to interfere with the politics of other realms, but threatening the lives of children is something that even Thorin won't stand for. Dwalin either, for all that he threatened Bain at Bard's house. Even if he couldn't do anything officially, I'd be surprised if events didn't happen that were so contrived to drive him out of office in one way or another. Although I don't know who would replace him. Alfrid's not exactly a better candidate."

"Bard and his children are technically heirs of Girion, the last lord of Dale," Elena mentioned, thinking back to what she could remember from the books. "If they rebuild Dale, he would be its rightful ruler. And he'd be a sight better than the Master, too."

Fíli nodded. "He cares about the people here. That's more than I can say for the Master." He glanced around the crowded marketplace, keeping an eye out for any sign of their unwanted followers. "But I wonder..." he trailed off, eyes thoughtful.

"Wonder what?" Elena asked, watching him curiously.

He shook his head, fingers stroking his beard absentmindedly as he pondered something. "Nothing. I just - I was thinking about Bard's children."

"What about them?"

Fíli blinked slowly, eyes on the ground as they walked. "Well, they're not supposed to leave, right? There's a guard watching the front of their house?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Well, what if they got out the same way we got in?"

"You mean - sneak out through the toilets, then swim through the water until they find a place to surface, then we sneak them onto a boat?" Elena questioned.

Fíli nodded. "It all depends on whether or not they can all swim, although I would imagine that they could, seeing as they live on a lake. But if we could just hide them, throw a cloak over them or something, until they were out in the open, then the Master couldn't do anything."

"It depends on how many people are around," Elena pointed out, taking another bite out of her apple and chewing it thoughtfully. "If it's one of the last boats to leave, there'll be less people around. Less witnesses, especially if all the guards are as corrupt as he is."

"The boats likely won't be back for another few hours. If we can find a way to pass a message on to Óin, perhaps, we might be able to send them out on the next boat," Fíli suggested before scowling. "But it doesn't look like we'll have the chance to. Here comes Alfrid, and he doesn't look happy."

Elena huffed, taking the last bite of apple before looking at the core mournfully. "Do you think if I throw the core at him, he'll go away?"

Fíli cleared his throat, bringing his hand up to hide his smile as they waited for the Master's right-hand man to get to them. "Don't tempt me."

Elena disposed of the apple core in the lake, rinsing off her fingers hastily before standing back up as Alfrid and Braga, both looking displeased, appeared in front of them. "Lady Lina, how could you just disappear like that?" Alfrid started in a scolding tone before seeming to remember who he was talking to, suddenly becoming much politer. "I - I mean, how else are we to ensure your safety, if we are unaware of your location?"

"I believe both Thorin and myself have stated that I am more than capable of looking out for myself, as is Master Fíli," Elena remarked coolly, ignoring the further abuse of her name. "I am both trained and experienced in defending myself, and am fully grown and independent. There is no need to watch out for me as though I was a child. It is kind of the Master to offer a guard for us, but there is no need to do so. We can locate the mansion again should we need you, but shall otherwise wait around here and assist with the preparations for when the boats return."

"Oh, but that's not what we were suggesting at all," Alfrid spluttered hastily, stepping closer to her. She had to suppress a visible gag as the wind carried some - questionable - smells from his person to their area. "I assure you, we meant no offense, we merely wanted to look out for the safety of our guests."

"And it is appreciated," Fíli stepped in gracefully. "But unneeded. I have been fully trained and have much experience in guarding nobility. Please, I'm sure the Master has more important tasks you may be needed for. We shall not be offended, nor in danger if you leave us be for the time being. We'll most likely just be walking around the marketplace until the boats return."

Alfrid hesitated, but seemed to give in after a moment, the glimmerings of an idea simmering in his eyes. "Very well, Master Dwarf. We shall return later, and escort you back to the Master's house for the night."

"Oh, there's no need for that," Fíli started hastily, but Alfrid cut him off.

"I insist. It is the only proper place for noble guests such as yourself to stay. I shall go inform the Master of your decision myself." He tried to smile, but the effect was ruined by his general creepiness and the malicious air to it as he turned away, beckoning for Braga to follow him. The guard nodded at both of them before turning to leave, Elena and Fíli watching them go.

"You know they'll be following us, or watching us in some way," Elena murmured to the blond, adjusting her pack on her back. He nodded silently, his face falling into the brooding look so natural to the Durin line as he stared off into the distance. She nudged him with her elbow. "Hey now, enough with the brooding. We get enough of that with your uncle. It's a bit too soon to be appearing on your face, don't you think?"

He blinked, seeming to snap out of it, before frowning, his face still dark. "That was too easy. It just feels - off. Even if they did just agree so that they could follow us. Everything today - the Master agreeing to the contract so quickly, without properly scanning it first when we know all he's concerned about is his own personal gain; his insistence that we have Alfrid and Braga follow us around all day, that we stay with him tonight... And now he's holding Bard's children captive, and literally using them as blackmail when he most likely would have agreed to do it anyways without the added threat."

"Agreed," Elena nodded somberly. "Which must mean he's planning something else. Something that would require Bard be unable to interfere, or that maybe even involves him in some way, if there's blackmail involved."

Fíli turned to regard her seriously. "You hid your daggers the way I showed you, right?"

Elena nodded. "My axes are sheathed in my bag, since I doubt we'd be allowed to have them out in the open, but I've got both of them within easy reach."

"Good. You may need them." Fíli glanced around the marketplace. It was less busy than before, as people packed up for the evacuation, but there were still too many faces for them to be able to tell if someone was watching or following them yet. "Let's get to a quieter place," he muttered, placing a hand on her back and leading her through several twists and turns of alleys until he seemed confident that they were alone.

"You know how to get back to the marketplace?" Elena asked, looking around at their surroundings - walls of houses, and various fishing supplies and trash strewn all over. "Because I don't." Fíli didn't answer, still scouting out the abandoned alleyway. "Fíli?"

"Sorry." He didn't look very sorry, though, as he pulled a familiar looking dagger with Khuzdul runes inscribed on it out of some hidden pocket in his coat. "Take this, and put it in the secret sheath you hid in your tunic. That way you'll have some sort of way to defend yourself even if your other weapons get taken."

Elena took the dagger curiously, careful not to touch the sharp blade as she turned it over in her hands. "Hold on - isn't this the dagger you made a big fuss over me stealing a couple months ago? That made you lose a bet or something?"

To her surprise Fíli flushed, laughing somewhat awkwardly. "Yeah, heh, uh, it is. But that's not important anymore. I still have plenty of daggers, and this way, you're still armed even if your other daggers get taken away, as it should be fairly well hidden in your tunic. Just do me a favor and don't tell Kíli? Or Thorin?" he asked sheepishly.

Elena couldn't help a laugh as she opened up her coat briefly to tuck the dagger into the hidden sheath along her side, disguising the weapon among the folds of her tunic. "Is this related to the bet? Or to whatever it was that I did when I stole it from you back then? Afraid they'll tease you for something? Did you just give away a family heirloom?"

"You know what, I bet we should probably start looking for Óin," Fíli said suddenly, spinning around and pulling her back through the maze of alleys. "If we're going to tell him how to reach the others, he needs to know what the plan is."

"Talk about avoiding the question," she teased, adjusting her coat so that it fit her better.

"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you," he retorted over his shoulder. "Óin should be around here somewhere. I told him to keep an eye out."

He must have been, for they found the grumpy old healer a few minutes later - or, rather, he found them, approaching them from the side with a hood thrown low over his head to help conceal his features. He listened carefully as Fíli suggested smuggling the children out the same way they had been smuggled in, before narrowing his eyes as he thought it over.

"We can't do it now," he said at last. "There's still too many people about, and they're watching the house too closely. The guard checks on the children every so often, just bursting in and making sure they're all there. If we were to do it, we'd have to move quickly to ensure that the children were boarded before they were found out. And right now, it'll still be a few hours at least before the boats return, and then it'll still be a bit more before they're ready to be loaded."

Elena mulled it over in her head. "How long will it take to evacuate Lake-town completely, do you think? Will it take the full three days?"

Fíli cocked his head to the side, thinking it over. "It would be tomorrow at the earliest," he said at last. "They can't row at night, not with the ice fields, so that limits how much time they have as well. My guess, however, is that they will still be working on it two days from now. If for no other reason than the Master wills it."

Óin nodded heavily. "Aye. I wouldn't put it past him to deliberately slow the work, nor to just leave some of the innocent souls here. A man who holds children hostage is not a man to be trifled with. He has no respect for the sanctity of life."

"Elena, you know of what is to come," Fíli said after a moment's pause, glancing about them first to make sure that there was no one within hearing range. "Do you know what the Master is planning?"

She shook her head regretfully. "Unfortunately, no. This never happened originally - there was no evacuation of Lake-town, so I don't really have anything to go off of except for his past actions, and that really only leads me to the one conclusion. Whatever it is, it will most likely benefit him first, and hurt Bard if in some way possible. We've already seen at least part of that in play, with him holding the children captive."

"And we have no choice but to go along with it for now, or risk innocent people being hurt," Fíli growled, the beads in his mustache clacking together as he shook his head. "We have to stop him."

"He's the leader of Lake-town, lad," Óin reminded him. "He has all the power. Right now, there's nothing we can do but sit back and watch."

* * *

 **A/N: I'd just like to say that you were all quite vocal on the ending of the last chapter, and I think it's hilarious.**

 **T** **ransitional chapter is transitional, should finally be getting around to Smaug next chapter! (And more nefarious deeds by certain characters - I'm exploring new characteristics and paths left untouched or brushed over by canon. Hence the Master blackmailing Bard with his children.)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Hmm... is it still considered a dumb move if they did it deliberately, knowing what was likely to happen? In this case, absolutely. And you are completely correct - the door locking is just the cherry on top of the cake - there's so much more to it all...mwahaha *cough* Ahem. Anyways. Fíli has already demonstrated some of his abilities, lock-picking just might be coming in very handy next chapter... thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: *maniacal laughter* If you didn't like that, you're going to hate the next chapter... ;)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Nothing good you say? May I just point out that the Master was the first person to lock Fíli and Elena in a room together? Perhaps he's just a Fílena shipper, and was merely hoping that they would get their act together and confess while he was gone... Or maybe he's really a psychopath who doesn't care who gets hurt as long as he gets his way... I've got a fair bit planned for next chapter, should be interesting. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **E: And more plans for this chapter... As for whether or not Bard will be able to kill the dragon, well... you'll just have to wait and see. ;) And regarding your plans for the Master... they made me laugh. But unfortunately, I can't kill him off yet. (or even hit him with a stick, sadly enough. Good idea, though.) He has to attain new levels of evilness next chapter before I can even consider getting rid of him. :P Darn him and his useful evilness. If you were curious for this chapter, I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter! (should be a lot more action next chapter). Thanks for reviewing! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I'm not Tolkien, or even one of his descendants. I don't own. :/**


	43. Chapter 43 - The Dangers of Greed

~~ Elena ~~

The rest of the day was spent avoiding Alfrid and his minions as much as possible while still trying to help with the preparations. It was made a little difficult by the fact that there weren't many places to go in Lake-town while they waited for the boats to return, but they managed to pull it off for most of the day. Alfrid returned in the late afternoon and dismissed the remaining crowds after the last boats had left, telling everyone that it would be too dark to navigate by the time they returned.

Unfortunately, he also managed to snag Fíli and Elena, and insisted on them spending the night in the Master's mansion. And, under the pretense that the town was less safe at night, he stuck a guard with them, who would escort them back to the mansion when it was time to eat. And this time, unlike earlier, the guard stuck close enough to them that there would be no sneaking off or careful conversations.

They ended up sitting at the edge of a dock, feet dangling above the water and the Lonely Mountain visible in the mist as the sun slowly began to set, their guard a short distance behind them.

"Think they'll be all right?" Elena murmured, her eyes on the mountain. "Getting there, at least?"

"The guides know these waters like the back of their hands, and they grew up on them. They should be able to navigate them safely to land. Once they reach shore, Thorin should be able to get them to the mountain," Fíli reassured her. "And once there, hopefully they'll be able to find the secret door."

"Yeah, but you'll forgive me if I'm none too confident in their abilities to even reach the mountain," Elena snarked. "Thorin got lost in the Shire trying to find Bag End - twice."

Fíli snorted, but tried to cover it up as a cough. "In his defense, the map Gandalf gave him led him to the tanneries."

"Wait, what?" Elena asked disbelievingly.

"It's true," Fíli nodded. "Bilbo confirmed it when he saw it. It's part of why Thorin was so..." He paused, trying to think of a polite way to phrase it.

"Grouchy?" Elena supplied with a raised eyebrow.

"Skeptical," Fíli said diplomatically, "of Bilbo's ability to be a burglar. Thorin may have some failings when it comes to navigating above ground, but he's not that bad. As best as we can figure out, Gandalf did that to mislead Thorin long enough that he could hopefully convince Bilbo to come along. Of course, we all know how well that turned out."

Elena snickered, picking up some pebbles from the dock and tossing them into the water. "Yes, Bilbo did inform us of what happened that night, including Thorin's charming arrival. I still wish we could have been there earlier. It's always better to see things in person than it is to hear about it."

Fíli shrugged, pulling one knee up and wrapping his arms loosely around it. "True. Which is why I think they'll reach the mountain just fine - it's right there in plain sight in front of them. Not to mention that Thorin grew up here. He knows these lands, at least. Even if he couldn't see the mountain, he'll be able to find it."

"Yeah." Elena sighed, resting her chin on her hands as she leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the mountain. "Do you wish you had gone with them? To see the mountain?"

Fíli didn't answer for a long while, but she knew he was actually thinking about his answer, not just ignoring her. "No," he said at last, surprising her. "At least, not with you here, not with what I know now. Thorin was determined that you stay here, and someone had to look after you."

"Hey! I don't get into that much trouble!" Elena protested. Fíli raised an eyebrow at her than glanced pointedly down at her left arm. While she had removed the sling before traveling to the Master's mansion, she was still under strict orders from Óin to place as little stress upon it as possible. "Okay, fine, I get into some, but that's just the nature of this quest. I swear I wasn't nearly this bad before I met you guys."

Fíli hummed disbelievingly but didn't say anything else, a small smile playing about his lips. Elena knocked his shoulder with hers but couldn't help a grin of her own. They sat there in silence for a while, just watching as the sun set, turning the lake waters a fiery red that felt just a _little_ too foreboding for them to be comfortable. They conversed quietly every now and then, but never anything very important or secretive, all too aware of the eager ears behind them.

When the boats returned an hour later, empty of all but the pilots, they watched silently as Bard was escorted off his barge by armed guards, although Elena took comfort in the fact that at least they went off in the direction of his home, rather than the Master's mansion. Unfortunately for her, that was the time that the guard stood up and began to lead them back to the Master's mansion, announcing that it was time for them to eat with the Master.

Elena waited until she had caught Fíli's eye and tried to remember what little Iglishmêk she knew from her lessons with Bofur. _'You think food safe eat?'_ she signed haltingly, glancing forward to ensure the guard was not watching.

Fíli frowned, thinking it over. _'Eat little now. Wait. We get food tomorrow'_ he signed slowly, signing it again when she didn't get it right away.

She nodded in comprehension, faking a smile for the guard when he turned around to make sure they were still following. She drew in a deep breath when they approached the Master's mansion, trying to prepare herself for the dank smell that seemed to be in every room of the house.

Once inside, they were quickly seated in a dining room with the Master at a large table, servants bringing out plates covered with different dishes for them to choose from, his own plate already covered with food. He welcomed them heartily as they reluctantly sat down, Fíli placing himself between her and the Master. Which, while she appreciated, unfortunately also meant she had to sit next to Alfrid, which was not much better on the comfort scale.

They both filled their plates with a small amount of food, trying to pick the same dishes that the Master and Alfrid had, although considering that their plates had already been filled before they got there, it didn't mean much. Both turned down the ale the Master offered, neither wanting to dull their wits that night. He didn't seem too disappointed, quickly ordering two waters for them and taking the ale for himself.

It was an uncomfortable dinner, spent smiling and agreeing with most of whatever the Master said, and cutting up their food to make it appear as though they were actually eating most of it. She sipped from the water every now and then, taking long enough breaks in between to ensure that it didn't seem to be affecting her mind at all. She did the same with the food, taking small bites and taking breaks in between.

She pushed her plate aside when the Master leaned back in his chair and pushed his fourth plate away, still hungry, but glad for the chance to leave the table. They were led to the same room they were in earlier, where once again, the door was locked behind them while 'their rooms were prepared for them'.

"How do you feel?" she asked in a low whisper as soon as Fíli had returned from checking the door.

He shrugged. "Tired. Hungry. But no more than I've often felt on this quest," he admitted in the same tone. "You?"

"Same. Far as I can tell, there was nothing in the food or the water."

"Or you were just immune to it," he pointed out. "Dwarrow have immunity to certain things that Men do not. It's likely the Master is unaware of this, and possibly used a plant we do not react to."

Elena sat down in the chair and fiddled with the family braid in her hair. "I guess you'd know more about this than I do." She paused, uncertain how to phrase her next question, then decided to just get it over with before the Master returned. "Fíli? What should we do about tonight?"

He dropped down in the chair beside her and shook his head moodily, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know," he admitted quietly. "I don't think we can get out of this one. Not without creating bigger problems. I don't think they'll really try anything, but just in case, block your door with something. Push a chair under the handle, or maybe even move your bed in front of it if you can. Have a weapon at the ready, and sleep with an ear out for anything that sounds different. That's probably all we can do."

Elena nodded, staring down at the floor and letting her hair fall in front of her face. "Yeah," she breathed. "Okay." She didn't want to admit it, but she was really not looking forward to tonight.

Fíli muttered something in Khuzdul under his breath before crouching in front of her and pushing her hair back from her face. "Hey, Elena, it's gonna be fine, this is just a precaution. As far as they're aware, you're on a mission from Thorin himself. Interfering with it would definitely cause diplomatic problems. All right?"

She shook her head, annoyed at herself. "Yeah, no, I know. Sorry. I just -" She shuddered. "This place really creeps me out."

He nodded in understanding. "I know. But it's just for a day or two, and then we can leave." He turned towards the door and cocked his head before raising his voice, returning to his seat opposite Elena. "So that's why I always check my pony before I get on it," he proclaimed dramatically.

Understanding what he was getting at, Elena raised her voice in turn, adding in a splash of humor to match his. "Really? I thought it was just because you couldn't trust your own memories, and had to double check everything to make sure it was correct."

Fíli scoffed, sticking his nose up in the air. "I'll have you know that I was always the responsible one in the family. It's Kíli who had trouble with that sort of thing."

Elena nodded sagely. "Uh-huh. One word for you, Fíli," she informed him as the door opened and Alfrid stepped inside. "Trolls."

Fíli deflated. "Fair point. I trust you have come to show us to our rooms, Master Alfrid?" he turned to the man.

Alfrid nodded. "If you will just follow me, Master Dwarf, I shall take you straight there. I assure you, they are the best Lake-town has to offer." They followed him down another hallway to a small room with a low fire burning in the fireplace, a small bed with a dingy canopy against the wall, and a chamber pot that did not look thoroughly clean sat in the far corner. "This is where you'll be staying, Lady Liana. There are guards posted outside the windows, so you should be perfectly safe."

 _Safe and right where the Master wants_ , she thought bitterly. She forced a smile and nodded. "This is a very nice room. Thank you."

Fíli touched her hand in farewell and cast a pointed glance at her hidden daggers before leaving with Alfrid, the door shutting with an ominous click behind them. Elena took a few deep breaths and tried to clear her mind before taking a look around her at the room. There wasn't much to it.

A fireplace, the disgusting chamber pot that she would never even consider using, and the bed. The blankets looked fairly clean, though the pillow and sheets did not, and she felt that her best bet would probably be sleeping on the floor near the fireplace. At least there she was less likely to be eaten alive by bugs - she hoped.

Out of curiosity, she went over to the window and, copying Fíli's trick from earlier, pulled out her dagger and slid it along the crack in between the shutters until she heard something click. Replacing her dagger, she carefully pried the shutters open a short distance and peered through. And just as Alfrid had said, there was a guard pacing back and forth along the walkway, a bored expression on his face. Mentally knocking it down to last resort on her dwindling list of escape routes, she shut the shutters once more.

Walking over to the bed, she gingerly placed one hand underneath the frame and tried to lift it. It lifted easily, which at least meant she could move it in front of the door as a barricade if need be. Unfortunately, it would most likely only be able to block any intruders temporarily, and alert her before they were able to push it aside. It would just have to do. Mentally deciding enough time had passed, she crossed to the door and carefully checked it. Just like she had suspected, it was locked.

She blew some air out of her nose and rested her forehead against the door, wrinkling her nose when she caught the scent of alcohol, which seemed to permeate the house. She couldn't move the bed just yet, in case it attracted unwanted attention. She obviously couldn't go to sleep yet, and she couldn't leave the room, or even open the window beyond an inch or two.

Grumbling to herself, she wandered over by the fire and plopped down, wishing she had her sketchbook. Unfortunately, as far as she was aware, it was still in the possession of the elves. Lacking that, she stewed in silence by the fire until she deemed it safe enough to move. First stopping by the door, she listened carefully for several minutes, trying to determine whether or not anyone was out there.

When it seemed all was quiet, she moved back over to the bed and began the long, drawn-out process of slowly moving the bed over so that it was in front of the door, without making enough noise to attract attention. It took a lot longer than she would have preferred, and by the time she was done, she was panting and even more tired than before. It provided at least a brief barrier to anyone trying to come in, though, and the sound of the door rattling against it would hopefully be enough to wake her up if anything were to happen, as she would likely be on edge the whole night, even in her sleep.

Pulling the hopefully clean blankets off the bed, she laid them out on the floor in front of the fireplace as her bedding, placing the pillow on the ground underneath. Taking out one of her daggers, she laid it on the blanket next to her head, careful to ensure that it was still in its sheath lest she roll over and impale herself somehow - she could only imagine how Fíli or her sister would react to that one.

Trying to relax, she curled up on the blankets and closed her eyes, wondering why the hard dirt she'd slept on many a night felt more comfortable than this, before eventually blaming it on the Master.

She didn't know how long she managed to sleep, but the sun hadn't even begun to rise when a loud rattling noise jarred her from her sleep. She jolted awake, eyes darting about wildly before focusing on the door, which was slowly pushing open against the bed. Snatching the dagger up from the floor by her head, she whipped it out of its sheath and stood to a defensive posture, adrenaline coursing through her veins and her heart beating a mile a minute.

"Who's there?" she snarled, her voice as threatening as she could make it when her brain was still fogged by sleep and fear. "I have a dagger, and I'm willing to use it!"

The door stopped in its path suddenly before being pulled closed by an unseen hand, and the sound of footsteps retreating rapidly reached her ears. She didn't let down her guard for another agonizing five minutes, switching paranoid glances between the door and the window. Then, unable to help herself, cursing her stupidity, she slowly approached the door, her heartbeat practically roaring in her ears. Holding her dagger close to the frame with her right hand, she used her left to try the doorknob.

Unsurprisingly, it was once again locked.

She cursed the Master silently, pushing the bed back in front of the door and retreating to her blankets. The fire had burned to low embers, no longer giving out the heat it had earlier, and she shivered in the chilly night air, the sweat that had broken out on her skin earlier now making her feel even colder. She swallowed hard before surging to her feet once more, heading to the window this time, and using her knife to fiddle around with the latches on the shutters until she was sure they were locked.

She didn't feel any safer as she returned to the blankets, but it made her feel marginally better that she would once again have some warning should anyone try something. She felt weariness return as her nerves slowly settled, but never to the point where she felt able to actually lay down and sleep again. Not here. Not now. She ended up spending the next few hours sitting anxiously on her blanket until the sun came up, her hand jerking towards her knife every time she heard a noise. And by the time morning came, she was exhausted, her eyes threatening to fall shut with every blink.

Once the sun was shining fully through her shutters, however, she summoned the strength to move her tired body and begin the laborious task of returning her bed to its former place against the wall. Once that was in place, she carefully folded up the blankets and pillow and placed them back on the bed in their proper places, tucking her dagger back into its sheath on her side. When she finished, she sat tensely on the bed until there was a knock on her door.

"Elena?"

It was Fíli. Heaving a sigh of relief, she darted to the door, half surprised when it actually opened this time to reveal the blond prince standing there in front of her, completely fine, if a bit tired. She surged forward and wrapped her arms tight around his neck before he could say anything, feeling his arms wrap around her in return. She buried her head in his neck, feeling her fears and worries temporarily fade into the background as the blessed warm feeling of being safe washed over her.

"Elena?" He was growing worried now. She pulled away from him regretfully, although he merely shifted his hands to rest on her arms. "Are you all right? Did you have a bad dream?"

She frowned at him, but then caught sight of Alfrid hovering a few yards away. She closed her eyes tiredly, but faked a smile that probably wouldn't have fooled anyone. "I'm fine. And yeah. I guess you could say I didn't have a very restful night's sleep. I worry for our families."

Fíli narrowed his eyes at her, searching her eyes for something. Whatever he found, he apparently didn't like it, because his jaw clenched and his body tensed up. He didn't let any of it show in his voice, though, speaking in a soothing voice. "They're sending out the boats again. I figured we might as well head out now. Please inform the Master of our whereabouts should he grow concerned, Master Alfrid."

The greasy man stepped closer once he had been addressed. "Of course, Master Dwarf," he agreed in a simpering voice. "The boats shall go out all day, and I shall return this night to fetch you for your stay again."

Fíli nodded tightly, not even bothering to address him in farewell as he took Elena's hand in his and led her through the hallways until they were outside once more. There, he kept going until they were in a side alley once more, with no one around, possible spies or not. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and took both of Elena's hands in his, looking her straight in the eyes.

"All right. Now that we're away from there, what happened?" he demanded.

Elena reluctantly retold her tale of what had happened just a few hours earlier, including her frustration at her inability to catch a glimpse of the face of whoever was behind it. Fíli didn't say anything for a long minute, just staring at her before suddenly catching her up in a tight hug, his hand coming up to cup the back of her head as she gratefully leaned into the hug, soaking in the warmth and sense of safety that his presence provided.

A shout from the docks caught their attention, and she reluctantly released him, both reminded of the reason they were here. He caught her hand in his and pulled her towards the docks. He kept her close the entire time they helped load the ships - once again, with no sign of Bard's children being allowed to board, or even leave their house.

After, though, once the ships had left, Fíli tugged her hand to grab her sleepy attention and pulled her to the dock they had sat on last night to watch the sunset before they had had to leave to join the Master. Sitting down, he leaned back against one of the supports and gently tugged her until she was leaning against his chest.

Blinking sleepily up at him, she could barely even muster the energy to blush. "What - what are you doing?" she managed to ask between yawns.

He smiled fondly down at her. "You told me you didn't get much sleep last night. You couldn't have. But I'll keep watch here, so you can sleep without having to worry about trouble. I'll wake you up when the boats return."

"Oh. That's nice of you," she mumbled, her eyes already slipping closed. "Thanks."

Fíli didn't bother responding, sensing she was already asleep. He brushed some of her loose hair back out of her face, settled back against the support, and looked up at the Lonely Mountain, far off in the distance. He couldn't help but wonder how his uncle and brother were doing, along with the rest of the Company. Were they nervous? Excited? Afraid? Too wound up to really feel anything at all?

Maybe a little bit curious about how he and Elena and the others were doing here in Lake-town. Maybe a little bit worried about the fact that they had left her behind with the Master, a man who apparently had no qualms about sending someone into her room - for what? Hostage purposes? (Was it bad that that was the best possible option he could come up with? He thought it was bad).

Elena shifted, mumbling something in her sleep, and he glanced down at her, his face softening. He didn't really know how to describe the way she made him feel sometimes. He was protective of her, but not quite like he was with Celia. He cared about her, but not like he did with Celia either. And she was one of his best friends, but in an entirely different class than either Kíli or Celia. Whatever she was, though, she was something special to him. He knew that much.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of his distracting thoughts. He needed to focus on keeping an eye out, not worry about the way she made him feel sometimes. He was just being a good friend and allowing her the chance to catch up on sleep after last night, when he wasn't able to protect her. He couldn't help the smile that crept across his face, though, every time he looked down at her.

xXx

"A wanderer, you say?" the Master asked incredulously, taking a sip of his wine. "Are you certain?"

The man in front of him nodded. "The girl - Bard's youngest daughter - was quite easy to get to spill," he bragged, sensing that he might get rewarded handsomely for this. "Just had to wave a knife about, and she was begging and crying about how her da was helping the dwarves because one of 'em was a wanderer, and knew what was supposed to happen."

The Master pondered this interesting tidbit of information in silence for a minute, before a wide smile crept across his face. "A wanderer," he repeated softly, leaning his fleshy elbows on the table in front of him. "Did she know which one?"

The man thought for a moment. "I think it was the female one that stayed behind." He grunted. "Wasn't entirely sure there was females 'til now, to be honest. I always thought as they just popped from the rocks."

The Master nodded vaguely, waving a hand as Braga came in. "Braga, take care of him, would you? He did me a... special favor, and he should be duly rewarded."

Braga nodded, taking the pleased man away with a bow, sure he was supposed to be rewarded any minute now. The Master and Alfrid ignored the dull thud and splash that echoed a few moments later, too busy focusing on their plans.

"If it's just the female, then we don't need the male, Sir," Alfrid suggested.

The Master nodded. "True. He is most protective of her. Perhaps if we were to get rid of him first. Then we can have the power of a wanderer in our hands. Imagine the possibilities, how many people would be interested in buying the chance to use her for information!"

Alfrid nodded. "I'll take care of it on the morrow, when everyone who can afford to pay the bargemen has left. We'll just have to tell the dwarves of Erebor, should they survive, that they were killed trying to evacuate Lake-town. A true tragedy."

"Most distressing," the Master agreed, staring at the picture of Elena on the table. "Most... profitable."

* * *

 **A/N: Aww, look at Fíli, trying to friend-zone Elena. It's not quite working for him. Wonder why. 0:D And the Master, plotting away. All well, everyone has their quirks, right?**

 ***Sigh* And I meant to include Smaug this chapter, I really did. It just didn't end up working out. Sorry guys. That's what I get for planning ahead. :P**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, ColdOnePaul, Lady Silverstar2, Child of Dreams, Guest, and E for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Mmm... Close. I can't say what's going to happen just yet, but there will definitely be some incapacitating going around. And just because they don't know the saying doesn't mean they can't learn it... :D But I make no promises. (I already have plans for the Master). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it!**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: One stabbing coming right up! (Wait, did you mean from the Master, or to the Master...) *shrugs* Oh, well. It's not like it matters in the end anyways, considering both - *AHEM* Anyways. No worries, I liked your rant! :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Hehehe, all I can say is that Fíli's dagger will come into play very soon... (And I think you're gonna like it) One slimy ending for one slimy Master coming up soon! (And, of course, more Fíli/Elena bonding). Thanks for reviewing! :D**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: *is wholly unaffected by death glare* *maniacal laughter* *chokes on laughter and falls over* *Still laughs* Hope you enjoy it... ;)**_

 _ **Guest: Yay! Glad to hear it! :D**_

 _ **E: Yep. I've always wondered if Alfrid is somehow Grima Wormtongue's ancestor (They're both so greasy and ugh! :P) Why thank you! I like to throw in a plot twist every now and again, as you can see. ;D As for outwitting... eh, maybe. We'll have to see... Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.** **nd Celia.**


	44. Chapter 44 - The Master Plan

~~ Elena ~~

The rest of the day passed quickly enough, though it could hardly be called pleasant. Fíli woke her up a few hours later when the boats returned, and they both reluctantly returned to the docks to help load them.

While she was still tired, she was feeling more alert, and better able to pay attention to her surroundings - such as the fisherman with a tear in his cloak that popped up suspiciously often no matter where they went, or the fact that any time they tried to approach Bard's boat, someone would 'need their help' or 'accidentally' get in their way.

Not to mention that the man himself looked very... tense. Tenser than he had been when they'd told him that a dragon would attack Lake-town. But without being able to get close enough to actually talk to him, they had no idea what was bothering him, although they could only assume it was because his children still weren't allowed to leave.

"Do you think we'll be able to get his children out of here?" Elena whispered as they watched the next load of boats set out for the distant Mirkwood forest. They were safe enough for now, but she had a bad feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, though she wasn't sure she could blame it entirely on the dragon.

Fíli scanned the area with hard eyes, flickering once over a woman hugging two small children to her against the wall of a house, and stopping once more on a tall man whittling on an overturned bucket. "I don't know," he said at last, not taking his eyes off the man. "I haven't seen Óin or Bofur at all today. Though that might just be because they've seen our followers as well, and don't want to draw attention to themselves."

"Maybe they're just trying to keep a closer eye on the house?" Elena suggested, following his gaze and frowning curiously at the man. "What's wrong? Is he one of the Master's guards?"

Fíli shook his head. "I don't know. But if I've learned anything from Nori, it's how to be able to recognize a tail. The man in the gray cloak was obvious - a bit too obvious, perhaps."

"Nori taught you how to recognize a tail?" Elena asked with a raised eyebrow as they stepped up to a stall to barter for some fresh food, neither of them having eaten since the night before. They dropped the conversation while they made the deal - prices increasing because of the evacuation - then returned to the private docks, where they could eat in relative peace. "I'm surprised he was willing to teach you - or that you knew him at all before the quest."

Fíli chuckled, taking a bite out of his meat pie. "I keep forgetting you don't know," he said after swallowing a swig of water.

"Know what?"

"That Nori's not just a thief, he's Thorin's unofficial spymaster back in the Blue Mountains." He grinned at the look on her face. "He keeps it on the down low, because obviously Nori wouldn't be of much use to him if everyone knew who he was, but he's great at ferreting out information. I think Thorin offered him the job around the third or fourth time he got caught. Thought it would be more beneficial to the both of them this way. It was, and made Nori unswervingly loyal to him for giving him a chance, rather than judging him without actually knowing him."

Elena nodded slowly, chewing on her own bite of pie hungrily. "Makes sense," she agreed through her mouthful. She swallowed and added, "But are you sure that it's all right if I know? What if I, I dunno... run off and tell the Master what it is that he actually does?"

He seemed to be completely unmoved by her words. "Then I would question your sanity. More than I already do anyways, I mean."

Elena scowled at him for a minute, but a snicker escaped her. "I suppose you're right to," she admitted, feigning shame. "I am friends with you, after all, and look what that did to Kíli."

Fíli gasped, clutching his free hand to his chest. "I am offended! Don't you know that I am a prince? I would drop my meat pie to show my shock, except that food is much more important than that."

Elena nodded in approval. "See, this is why we're friends. You know your priorities." They sat in companionable silence after that, finishing their food and keeping a wary eye out for anyone approaching the docks on a path to intercept them. "What about you?" Elena asked after they finished. When he just looked at her uncomprehendingly, she rephrased. "Sorry. I mean, did anything happen last night for you?"

He shook his head slowly. "Which is concerning in and of itself. Although, it could just be that they believed that I would be armed, as a male, and as a female you wouldn't be, since you left your axes hidden in your bag at Bard's."

Elena huffed. "Worst decision I've ever made. Okay, I take that back, it's probably not the worst decision I've ever made, but it's up there. All I had last night were my daggers, though at least that was enough to scare off whoever was there. I don't think they were expecting me to be awake, or armed." She frowned at the thought, a worrying thought striking her. "Fíli... now they do know that I'm armed - or at least, that I said I was. What if they try again tonight, only they're more prepared?"

He scowled at the thought, but didn't respond right away, thinking it through. At last he sighed heavily, his face dead serious when he looked at her. "Then you kill them."

"Wh-what?" Elena stumbled over her words, not sure she'd heard him correctly.

"Then you kill them," Fíli repeated, not a hint of a joke anywhere on his face. "Elena, if someone is trying to break into your bedroom, it's not going to be because they want to rob you. Not here. Especially now that they know you're armed. It's going to be for something much worse than that. Best case scenario, they want to hold you hostage for ransom because they think you have a rich family because of your title. Worst case scenario..." he trailed off, leaving the words unspoken.

Elena swallowed hard, feeling her lunch threatening to come back up at his implication. "But Fíli - I've never killed someone before. I had a hard enough time killing a goblin, and that's nowhere close to human! How am I supposed to be able to kill a rational, living human being?" She ran her hands through her hair, ignoring the slight twinge in her arm when she did so. "That's completely different!"

"I know, I understand what you're going through, I went through the same thing once," Fíli said soothingly, placing his hands on her shoulders to get her attention. "But you have to understand - these aren't the honest, well-meaning men like Bard, or even the elves of Rivendell. People who are willing to do this would be wholeheartedly willing to return the favor and kill you - that may even be what they were trying to do. They're killers, and sometimes that's the only way to defend yourself."

Elena nodded somberly. "I know. I've never blamed our soldiers or police officers back home, because they killed to protect themselves, or to protect others, and they fought against evildoers. And I know that I would be fighting against a 'bad guy' so to speak, but to actually kill someone?"

Fíli tilted his head to the side. "Would you do it to protect Celia?"

Elena nodded fervently without even thinking about it. "No one hurts my sister. I'd regret taking a life later, I know, but I would never regret protecting her. And I know she'd do the same for me."

Fíli nodded. "I did the same for Kíli." He looked away when she met his eyes, the question visible in hers. "We were going on a special hunting trip with Uncle and Dwalin a few years back. I was maybe sixty, and Kíli was fifty-five. We had run off, like we always did, and were found by a group of outlaws, maybe four or five all together. We had youth on our side, and started speeding back towards camp, shrieking at the top of our lungs, but they followed us. Thorin and Dwalin came charging out and took them on, but one of them knocked Kíli out while they were distracted and started dragging him away."

He scoffed, staring out at the still lake waters with unseeing eyes. "I panicked. Threw one of my knives at him, trying to hit him in the arm. But I wasn't aiming carefully, and that was my first real battle experience. I threw too far to the left and hit him in the heart. Killed him. I was sixty years old, and I had killed a man." His voice was almost too soft to be heard.

Elena laid a hand on his arm, not sure of what to say. It obviously still pained him even twenty years later. "Oh, Fíli. I'm sorry."

He shook his head vehemently. "Don't be. I'm not." He faltered. "Well, not really. Like you said, I regret taking a life, and I felt sick for days afterward. But at the same time, I don't regret killing him. Because he was trying to hurt my brother, and so I had to stop him. Does that make sense?"

Elena took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, it does. I'd do the same for Celia, and I know she'd do it for me, no matter how much she'd hate it. But even all that aside, Fíli, I'm not as good with a dagger as I am with my axes. I spent most of my time on those, because that was what I wanted to do, and back then, it was still purely recreational."

Fíli shrugged, getting to his feet and gesturing for her to do the same. "You won't need much training, especially if you already have some. You'll be aware that they're coming in, and they'll be trying to push the door open as well. That gives you the advantage of time, and space to move in. I know you can throw, so use that if that's what you feel comfortable with. Otherwise, if you don't think you have the skill or ability to kill them right away, go to incapacitate."

He gestured to one arm in a slicing motion. "Slashing at the arms is the best way to keep an attacker at bay, and if you incapacitate or even weaken their weapon arm, so much the better. And if you cut them enough anywhere, they'll eventually be unable to continue, and/or bleed out, whichever one comes first. _But_ ," he stressed the word, "if their goal is to simply take you hostage, if you go for blood, so will they. Once you decide to go for a lethal attack, you have to follow through, or they _will_ use your hesitation to kill you."

He paused, making sure she was paying attention. "And remember - you are your own worst enemy in a fight, especially since you've never fought in a knife battle before. Under stress, unless you've drilled under extreme duress, your coordination goes out the window. There's a high chance you'll be cutting yourself along with your attacker. There's also a high chance you won't feel any of that during the fight, so once it's over, make sure to look yourself over for any dangerous wounds and treat them as soon as possible."

He clapped a hand on her shoulder cheeringly. "Don't borrow trouble, though, Elena. For all we know, you scared off whoever tried it last night, and tonight will be fine. And I've seen you fight both orcs and goblins. You have skill and talent. I believe in you."

Elena smiled crookedly up at him. "No comment as to not letting me near any danger, etc? That I'm smaller, weaker, more inclined to getting into trouble?"

He snorted and shook his head. "While that's technically all true, you are also more than capable of taking care of yourself. I may want to protect you from danger, because you're my friend, but I also know that it's unrealistic to expect that I'll always be there, or that anyone else will be there, because you have an alarming knack for getting yourself into the worst kinds of trouble at the worst possible times."

"Is there ever a good time?" Elena snarked.

"Well, when we're not hunting down a dragon, or being hunted by orcs would be nice," Fíli deadpanned before rolling his eyes. "Anyways. It's likely that I'll end up locked in my room again as well, and may possibly have to deal with my own intruder. I trust you to be able to take care of yourself, and I expect you to expect me to worry about you afterwards."

"And before. And during," she ribbed him with a smirk. "But you know I'll be worrying about you too, right? Best friend privileges."

He smiled. "I know. You're my best friend too."

She smiled back up at him, their eyes meeting as both of them finally relaxed completely for the first time that day. She felt heat rise in her cheeks at the sight of something - extra - in his eyes as he leaned towards her slightly before she brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and shyly looked away from his gaze, though she kept being drawn back to him involuntarily, smiling softly.

And then something in the water splashed and the moment was broken as a dwarf with a soggy hat broke the surface with gasp. Startled, she jerked away from him as they both turned to the water, her blush spreading rather than fading as she had hoped.

"Bofur!" Fíli cried, forgetting himself. Glancing around quickly for any sign of eavesdroppers, he crouched down at the edge of the dock, Elena right beside him. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. "What's going on?"

The miner hastily hushed him, rubbing his arms to warm himself as he kicked to stay afloat. "Make it look like you're watchin' the sunset or something sappy like that, but don't make it obvious I'm here! It was a hard 'nough swim as it was!"

They cast each other confused looks, but obeyed, quickly sitting down on the dock. Elena dangled her feet over the edge, while Fíli drew one leg up and hugged it with his arms. "What's going on, Bofur?" Fíli asked again once they were situated. "Why are you down here?"

"The Master knows what Elena is!" Bofur whispered harshly through chattering teeth, and Elena felt her blood run cold.

"What?" she whispered, while beside her Fíli closed his eyes and muttered a Khuzdul imprecation. "How?"

Bofur scowled. "That son of an orc sent in someone to question Bard's children to see if they knew anythin' about ya. Guess the little girl must've been listenin' in when we talked, because she must've given it away somehow. The scum started threatenin' her, wavin' his knife around like the coward he is. She said somethin' about you bein' a wanderer. He seemed awful pleased with that, and took off afore I could gut him like he deserved, threatenin' a child like that."

"Is she all right?" Elena demanded in a hushed whisper. "Did he hurt her?"

Bofur shook his head. "Nah. Scared her somethin' fierce, but didn't touch none of 'em. I made sure of that afore I left to come find ya. Took a right while to do it, too." He shivered. "But long 'n' short of it is, he knows what you are now. In public, he probably won't try nothin', but if you go back to his house tonight..."

Elena felt sick, bringing a hand up to her mouth. Fíli looked furious, his hand clenching tight over one of his daggers. "What about the children? They're clearly not safe there."

Bofur nodded. "Aye. That's the other reason I'm here. We think we can sneak Tilda - that's the youngest bairn - out the same way we got in - and the same way I did just now - and smuggle her aboard the boats, if we're careful about it, and hide her face as best as we can. Her older sister said the checks come too regular for them all to leave at once, and her brother insisted on stayin' with her. But at least this way, we can get her out of harm's way."

Fíli thought about it for a few minutes, his face set. "We can't do it now, there's still probably a good two hours before the boats return. It'd be better if it were closer to the loading time, so that we could hide her in the bustle of the crowds. What does Óin think?"

"That we'd all be better off if we fed the Master to Smaug and killed two beasts with one stone," Bofur said flatly, moving closer to the dock and hanging onto one of the pillars to give himself a chance to rest. "And frankly, I'm with him."

Fíli snorted. "I think the same, but I meant about the plan."

"Oh. Well, I've been in and out of their house several times, and not heard a peep about it from the guards. And all three of the children can swim, growin' up on the lake and all. So we should be able to get her out that way, and Óin will be waiting with a towel and a cloak to cover her up. Then we'll get her out onto the boat. There is one more problem, though..."

"And what's that?" Fíli asked warily.

"The Master's been chargin' for each person to evacuate. All the people that you've been loadin' weren't just put there for organization's sake. They're the ones who've been able to scrape up enough money to pay the guards. Everyone else is on their own."

Fíli nodded slowly, cursing under his breath. "Does she have enough?"

Bofur nodded. "Just wanted to let you know about the others. I'll bring her to the loadin' docks in two hours time. Or Óin, if I've frozen by then. This water is bitter cold."

"Best get out of it then," Elena suggested. "Thanks for letting us know. I don't know what we're going to do about tonight, but we obviously can't go back to the Master's house." Fíli nodded adamantly beside her.

"All right. See ya in two hours' time." The miner waved briefly before taking a deep breath and disappearing under the water once more, swimming under the dock for cover.

"I hope the little girl will be all right," Fíli murmured, staring at the place the hatted dwarf used to be. "We were able to handle the water because of our sturdier bodies, but she's a human, and a child at that. We'll need to get her dry and warm as soon as possible, lest she take sick."

Elena nodded. "Hopefully Óin will find something that she can wear while her other clothes dry. In the meantime, though, what are we going to do about tonight?"

Fíli shook his head, scowling. "I don't know. We can't go back, that much is obvious. Which means we're going to have to sneak out before we get spotted, and find a safe place to lay low for the night. As of right now, though, I'd say don't go anywhere alone. Either of us. We should be safe enough in public, but alone... it'd be easy to either dispose of me, or hold me for ransom, and take you for your possible knowledge."

"Ugh." Elena looked at Fíli pleadingly. "Would it be a very big diplomatic incident if I stabbed the Master, and maybe Alfrid, and made it look like an accident?"

The prince stifled a laugh. "Possibly. Actually, it probably would be, as I'd be right behind you. And stabbing the leaders of other towns is usually frowned upon by most, even if they really deserve it."

Elena sulked. "Fine. Ruin all my fun then."

"Sorry. I don't make the rules," Fíli said unapologetically. "I'll see if Thorin will make a law allowing us to stab annoying rulers once we take Erebor."

"He'd probably pass it just for the chance to take a stab at Thranduil," Elena giggled. "Or make an exception."

Fíli smirked, but it quickly faded. "He'd want to, but I doubt he actually would. He'd have to be mad to deliberately provoke a war with the Mirkwood elves when we'd still be rebuilding Erebor, and likely would be for a while."

"Mad. Yeah..." Elena looked down at the water. "Maybe we should make a rule that we can stab him when he's being annoying? Or, well, not stab, cause that'd be bad, but smack him? Every time he starts being broody, or annoying, or broody and annoying _and_ making bad decisions, we smack him."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. He'd definitely go for that," Fíli said dryly, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Come on. We should go look around town, maybe there's an abandoned house we could hide out in tonight."

Elena sighed, but agreed.

Two hours later, they were by the docks, trying to avoid the two people they had identified as potential tails, and had managed to lose themselves in the crowd. They were helping herd people towards the lines when Elena felt a small hand take hers as a cloaked figure stepped up beside her, hair still damp against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Miss Elena about what I said to the man," Tilda whispered, keeping her eyes downcast as they walked, Fíli switching to the other side of them. "I was scared, and I didn't know it could hurt you until Sigrid explained it to me."

"It's all right, Tilda," Elena assured her in a lowered voice. "You didn't do anything wrong. That man did, and he should be ashamed of himself. We're just going to focus on getting you out of here, all right? Do you have the money?"

The little girl nodded, holding a small pouch in her hands. "And a change of clothes. Mister Bofur held it above his head as we swam, and kept it dry for me to change into. I don't have any food, though."

"Your da will find some for you," Elena promised, glancing up as they approached the guard. "We're gonna have to leave you now, so we don't attract too much attention, and we can't let on that we know the Master is charging money. Pay the guard, then we'll come get you again, all right?"

Tilda nodded, squeezing her hand one last time and sniffing before letting go and walking up to the guard, squeezing in behind a woman so that it appeared she was her child. The guard didn't seem interested in her beyond getting the coins, and waved her on through to the holding area.

Elena breathed a silent sigh of relief, glancing around the area in reflex to see if anyone was watching, before catching sight of the same woman as before, two small children curled up against her as she huddled against the house. Knowing what she did now, she was willing to bet that she couldn't afford to pay the price the Master had demanded.

Setting her jaw in determination, she stalked towards the woman, softening her gait once they got close. "Come on, let's get you and your children loaded up," she said quietly, extending a hand to help the woman up, who just looked bewildered.

"I don't - I don't have the money to pay," she said timidly.

"Perhaps not, but I do," Elena said confidently. "And anyways, we've already settled with the Master that we will reimburse him for the price of evacuating Lake-town. Your account is paid, as is your children's. Now come on, let's get you in line."

The poor woman still looked confused, but got up, lifting her toddler in one arm, and holding onto her little boy with her other. Elena walked with them over to the holding area right past the guard. When he tried to object, she sent him a fierce glare she'd learned from her mother and told him the same thing she'd told the woman.

"I already settled her account with the Master. As nobility, I have more than enough money to reimburse him for the cost of helping her." Of course, since it literally cost him nothing... She shrugged mentally, more than willing to shortchange him. Ignoring any further protests he might have made, she pulled them straight onto a boat next to an old man and sat them down. "You should be good now."

The woman caught her hand before she could leave. "Thank you. Really."

Elena smiled and nodded, waving goodbye at the toddler before getting off the boat and returning to the holding area. Catching sight of Bard loading his boat, she headed towards Tilda as Fíli began helping an older woman onto the gangplank, determined that this time, no one would stop her.

Grabbing a pack of food, she caught Tilda's eye and jerked her head towards herself. When the younger girl got there, she dropped the pack in her arms and grabbed another for herself. "Follow me," she grunted, heading towards Bard's boat. And this time, when someone 'accidentally' got in her way, she just apologized briefly when she bumped into them and kept going straight up the gangplank and onto the boat.

"Got something you might like," she muttered to Bard, dropping the pack on the floor. When he just looked at her uncomprehendingly, she merely grinned in response and tilted her head towards the small, cloaked figure approaching him.

When she got close enough, Tilda lifted up her hood just enough to grin at him. "Hi, Da!" she whispered.

Bard just stared for a moment, his face going slack before his shoulders lifted. Unable to give her a hug with the guards around, he just gave her a warm smile and brushed her face lightly before turning to Elena. "Thank you."

She nodded. "I'm sorry we couldn't get the others yet. Sigrid said they checked too often for them all to go at once, and Bain insisted on staying with her."

He nodded, still smiling at his daughter. And then a guard came tromping on-board and the moment was lost as Tilda scurried to sit down and Elena returned to shore. She managed to get four more families that wouldn't have been able to before on-board before the boats left, and Fíli got another three.

They spent the next three hours wandering around Lake-town and marking potential hiding spots and abandoned houses, as well as plotting various escape routes and plans. They picked several possible choices before they had to return to the docks to help load once more.

This time, though, they focused on loading the poorer families with children on, while the guards took care of the others, and Elena took personal pride in the fact that all the boats were much fuller than they had been the day before even before they were finished loading.

They had to leave before the boats did, unfortunately, as they wanted to avoid being caught, and used the ruckus to escape through the crowd. Taking several side alleys, and doubling back occasionally to confuse any followers, they managed to sneak into a house on the poorer side of town, that had mostly been evacuated already.

There was only one house in the area that was still occupied, and no one in there had seen them. Latching the door shut, Fíli peered through a gap in the shutters before shutting them again, satisfied that they weren't being followed.

They had a cold supper that night, using leftover bread and meat they had bought earlier, before settling upstairs in one of the bedrooms and borrowing all the blankets.

"I'm not going to sleep on their beds when we're uninvited," Elena insisted, piling the blankets she'd gathered from the various rooms onto the floor in the main room into two different beds.

Fíli nodded, pushing the table in front of the door with some effort. "This should help keep out any other unwanted guests - besides us, I mean," he quipped, returning to the beds and curling up in his own. "This house only has the one door, so we should be good here. We have a warning system in place, and I'd wager even this place is cleaner than the Master's place." He shuddered.

Elena raised an eyebrow, pulling her blankets up to her chin. "I'm guessing you got a dirty bed, too?"

Fíli snorted. "Dirty? I'm pretty sure the ground we slept on traveling through Mirkwood forest was cleaner."

Elena snickered. "Yeah, I just tossed the blankets on the floor and slept there. It seemed to be the cleanest choice." She fought back a yawn suddenly. "Sorry. Guess I'm still tired."

"Go to sleep, Elena," Fíli ordered quietly, his own eyes drooping. "We'll hear it if anyone tries to come in, and there's no sign of our presence here. And both of us need the rest. I don't think either of us really slept much last night."

She nodded. "Yeah. Sleep sounds good."

He snorted, but closed his eyes, and, using the ability to sleep anywhere he'd learned on the road, dropped off almost immediately.

Elena took a bit longer despite her heavy eyes, afraid of what the next day would bring. Bad enough there was a dragon possibly coming, but now they had to deal with the Master, while also trying to figure out a way to help Bain and Sigrid escape. At least they knew, though, that the Master was looking for them, and this way, they could be ready. She would be ready.

Because the Master wasn't just a threat to her with his new knowledge, he was a threat to her sister as well, and who knows who he might blab to?

No, they would be ready for him - to stop him. She fell asleep thinking of various ways the next day might go, some of them strangely soothing. She just hoped the next day went as well as it possibly could.

The next day, they were able to help out with one last boat trip, but had to split up when they saw someone chasing after them while they were leaving, and she got caught by a group of armed men, who quickly took her own two daggers and drug her before the Master. She wasn't really comforted by the fact that they had planned for this eventuality.

But she did have to admit that slamming her foot into the side of his knee and watching him buckle was really satisfying.

* * *

 **A/N: In which Smaug is still AWOL because he's freaking late to the party, but has promised to show up very soon to eat people; Fíli and Elena have a "Moment"TM which of course, gets interrupted by Bofur; Bard is a good dad; the Master sucks and is STILL waiting to get stabbed as requested by virtually everyone; Alfrid is suspiciously silent; the Master Plan to avoid the Master doesn't work, and Elena gets captured while Fíli disappears.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, decadenceofmysoul, and E for reviewing! :) (You guys all left wonderful - and hilarious - reviews, and your support means volumes to me!)**

 _ **Child of Dreams: Is it a bad sign that you're now one of my favorite reviewers because you threatened to feed me to a dragon? Because I found that hilarious. Um... I may need to move out of town for the next chapter, however... *Buys Dragon-killing spray* That next chapter though... Whoo! Might want to grab your pitchforks now! ;D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Well, a lot of them are stupid, at any rate. Nope. They have no clue that Fíli is royalty. Or they knew, and forgot it - you pick. But that's okay. He can use it to his advantage later - assuming he survives this upcoming chapter, that is... Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Lol, as for Fíli figuring out his feelings... I'd say he's getting there... ;D As for feeding Alfrid and the Master to Smaug... perhaps. I did enjoy Alfrid's fate in BOFA, however. :D They will be dealt with very soon, and I think a lot of people will enjoy what happens to the Master. :D And I have to say, that was a splendid review that almost made me cry happy tears to hear that you like it so much, and review every week - it seriously means a lot to me, and is really encouraging!**_

 _ **decadenceofmysoul: Yay! I'm glad you like it! :) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it! :D**_

 _ **E: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! :) Don't worry - I think everyone hates the Master by this point. And Alfrid. I have a fitting fate in plan for both of them, however, so don't give up hope just yet... You will see how they use this information very soon... Like, next week soon, lol. How it turns out, though... *shrugs* Who's to say that it goes how they planned... ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	45. Chapter 45 - Fire and Water

~~ Elena ~~

 _The Lord of Silver Fountains,  
_ _The King of Carven Stone.  
_ _The King Beneath the Mountain  
_ _Will come into his own._

"Bring her to the boats," the Master declared with some difficulty, once he had regained control of himself some minutes later, and Elena had been suitably restrained.

Or, to be more accurate, her guard - a very familiar looking guard - was holding her quite tightly by her healing arm, and she was gritting her teeth to keep from doing anything rash. "I'm not leaving without her, and if that beast inside the mountain really is going to wake up, I want to be far away from here before it does. Do we have anyone else who can afford to pay the tax?" he asked one of the guards.

He shook his head. "We got the last of it here, my lord," he said, pulling a small bag out of his pocket and jingling it in his hand. "Everyone who could pay went on the last boats this morning."

"Good, good, now give it here," the Master commanded, tucking the bag away into one of his inner pockets. "Start loading up a boat for me, and make sure you get all my belongings! Don't want one of the greedy beggars who lives here going through my belongings when I'm not around to protect it. Where's Alfrid?"

"He's with the group going after the other dwarf, my lord," one of the guards answered, tightening his grip on Elena's arm and yanking her towards the docks. "Come along, dwarf. Why the dwarf king brought along a useless female, I'll never know, but the Master has need of you."

She glared at him, but went along without resisting, biding her time and trying to brace herself for what she was planning to do. She just needed to let them continue to think of her as stupid and weak for a little bit longer, and then she could go find Fíli, wherever he was. Hopefully he'd gotten away.

Bofur and Óin were watching Bard's children, and still hadn't been able to get the Black Arrow to the top of the tower with the wind lance needed to shoot it. Which meant that they would be focused on that, and not on Fíli and Elena.

For the time being, they were on their own.

She stumbled to a halt when her guard threw her towards a small barge against one of the docks. "Get in, dwarf. This is where you'll be staying until we arrive."

"Good man," the Master praised him, tossing him a small gold coin. "Send the rest of the guards off to help collect all my belongings. We've taken her two small daggers, and she is too small to defend herself adequately without them. You should be enough to watch her."

He smiled greedily as the guard turned to do his bidding, and the other three guards took off at a trot for the Master's house. Already the barge was piling up with bags and boxes of valuables, most likely stolen from the people of Lake-town at one point or another.

"I don't know why your leader really left you here in Lake-town, but I suppose it doesn't matter now," he told her, weighing the bag of gold happily in his hand. "His loss is our gain. Though doubtless he will even know it's a loss. Dwarves are greedy creatures, and if he knew what he could gain by having you in his possession, he would never have left you here with only one pathetic dwarf warrior to protect you."

Elena grit her teeth and stalked to the edge of the boat, gripping the railing with one hand and using that to block his view of her as she slid the other up inside her coat. Fíli had helped her hide the dagger he'd given her earlier, and given that not even the elves had managed to find all his hidden knives, she wasn't too surprised that they'd missed it in their cursory sweep of her.

Sliding it down into her hand, she stepped closer to the pile of valuables, all the while plotting out an escape plan in her head. It would be uncomfortable, and unpleasant to the extreme, but it was perhaps the only chance she would have.

And, unfortunately, a long-term one.

She had to stop every few inches, waiting for agonizing minutes when the guards returned hauling some more of his hoarded treasure before she could try again, until she estimated she'd been stuck there for almost half an hour at least.

"King Thorin won't thank you for carrying off two members of his Company," she warned him coldly, all traces of the laid-back, innocent personality she had harbored the last two days gone.

"Ah, but you're expecting that he would find out what we've done," the Master reminded her, dipping his fingers in the bag of gold and letting it run over his fingers. "You'll be with me, until I sell you off to the highest bidder, and your blond companion won't be around much longer to cause any problems. I have the contract safely with me," he patted his pocket. "And it's been signed by you both. Once I tell him that you were regrettably lost in the dragon attack you seem so sure is to come, we will be in the clear."

He eyed her as a thief might eye a shiny jewel. "I wonder how we should break it to him. Burned by dragon fire, perhaps, should it attack like you seem to think? Or maybe you were killed in the destruction afterwards. A tragedy indeed, to lose two dwarves so young, and with your population dwindling as well, I've heard. But an accident, nothing more."

She smirked, sliding closer to the pile of valuables and eyeing a heavy looking candelabra. "You really think he won't blame you for the loss of his nephew, and a lady of his court? How stupid are you?" she sneered. "He never trusted you, and if we go missing, he will find us. And you, no matter where you are. You see, Thorin Oakenshield, and all the members of his Company, are loyal, trustworthy people. I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that, but it doesn't matter. One way or another, you will lose."

He stalked closer to her, glaring down at her with his beady eyes. "And how would you know that, dwarf? The same way you knew that a dragon would attack if your party left for the Mountain, and you let them anyways? The same way you know that the people of Lake-town will die? Because that's all on you, Lady Liana. Their blood will be on your hands."

Elena kept her face calm, though she kept a wary eye on the guard, who was steadily inching closer. "It's Elena, you moronic excuse of a Scrooge! I couldn't prevent those dwarves from entering the Mountain any more than I can stop you from leaving those people here to die, all because they couldn't pay an exorbitant price to leave, when we'd already agreed that they could do so. You broke the contract, Master, so any gold you'll get from Erebor when - not if - we retake it, depends on how merciful we're feeling. And me?" She leaned towards him, trying not to gag at his stench. "I'm not feeling very merciful towards you right now."

She suddenly darted backwards, snatching up the candelabra and throwing it in the guard's face, unable to stop a wince at the painful-sounding thud as the heavy item smacked into him, knocking him backwards and leaving him stunned on the ground. Whipping Fíli's dagger back into her right hand, she held it up threateningly to the Master. "Let me leave peacefully, and I won't hold it against you. I can't guarantee the others won't, but that's the best you're going to get from me."

"And the best you're going to get is sleeping on this boat until I sell you off to your new master," he growled, drawing a dagger of his own and advancing on her. "Though I might just knock you out and leave you to be eaten by the dragon. I'm starting to think you're more trouble than you're worth."

She grinned fiercely, ducking under his first sloppy strike and kicking out at his legs. "Good. At least you're learning something by my being here. I don't feel our time together has been completely wasted." She sideswiped another attempted hit, and almost stumbled over a loose box. She lost valuable time regaining her footing, and could hear the guard beginning to stir.

Time to move on.

"You'll forgive me for leaving without a proper goodbye?" she mocked, trying to edge around him to the side of the boat. Unfortunately, he kept matching her step for step, and she wasn't sure that she was willing to actually try and kill him, no matter how much she hated him.

"Don't worry, I won't return the favor," he assured her dangerously. "I intend to leave you with something to-" he grunted as he suddenly leapt forward, hoping to surprise her in the middle of his sentence with a speed that belied his girth.

Caught off guard, it was all she could do to jerk to the side, and she cried out as she felt the cut on her left arm reopen, a burning sensation wrapping around it.

Staggering further to the side, she swiped desperately with Fíli's dagger, freezing when she felt it hit something soft and squishy. Whipping her head around, her wide eyes connected with the Master's before they both dropped to her hand, which was currently holding the dagger buried in the side of his paunch, too far out to have hit anything vital - she hoped.

Feeling as though she might throw up, she tugged the dagger back towards her, flinching when it slid out with a squelch, and the Master cried out and wrapped his arms around his abdomen.

"What have you done? You've killed me!" he moaned, pulling away a bloody hand and staring at it as though he might faint.

Elena swallowed down bile and scrambled to the edge of the boat, balancing herself on the railing, still holding on to Fíli's knife for dear life as she held it towards the Master in a shaky hand. "It didn't go in far enough to hit anything vital. Get it patched up, you should be fine; which is more than you deserve for all the lives you've destroyed. Just be a good leader for once in your life, and get everyone out of the city!"

She wanted to go for a more dramatic, better executed dive, but a sharp knife whistled past her cheek, grazing it and startling her into falling off the railing and sending her into the water with all the grace of a dead fish.

Shocked by the freezing cold of it, she sucked in a breath of water that did nothing for improving her chances of getting away. Surfacing, she choked out the water before repressing the urge to cough and taking a large gasp of air before ducking under once more, swimming down deeper and under the boat, in hopes that they wouldn't expect her to come through on the other side.

It worked temporarily, as none of the shouts she heard seemed to be directed towards her, so she submerged once more and swam further into the town, sticking close to the walkways when she did surface, replacing Fíli's knife in its sheath. It was too dangerous to get further out, but the only safe place she could think of to go was Bard's house, and she needed to get there fast. The waters were freezing, and she didn't know how long she could stay in it before she started to freeze as well, dwarf genes or not.

Thus began a long journey involving lengthy treks underwater, repeated scares that a guard had seen her, the unending fear that she was hopelessly lost and would be unable to find Bard's house from here, and shivers that would rack her from head to toe whenever she stopped to catch her breath. The only clue she had that she was going the right direction was when she saw the armory that they had tried to raid the first night. If she remembered right, she just had to keep going a few blocks west of that.

In what was possibly the first thing going her way that day, she managed to find Bard's house after getting lost only twice. And even better, there was no sign of anyone standing guard by the house. Or anyone there at all, really. Fairly suspicious, but she was starting to lose feeling in her fingers and toes, so she really needed to get out of the water.

It took her four tries to be able to clamber onto the top of the wooden pathway with her numbed fingers. When she at last managed to pull herself over the side, she just sprawled there on the wood for a few minutes, gasping and choking for air as she finally allowed herself the chance to breathe. She would need to get up soon, she knew, lest she fall asleep in her wet clothes and get sick.

She would just lay there and rest a little bit longer, she was so tired...

xXx

"Elena! Elena, can you hear me? Elena, you need to wake up!" Then someone was shaking her, trying to pull her out of the sleepy haze she had fallen into.

"Hmm? Wazgoinon?" she yawned, opening her eyes blearily. "Óin?" She blinked, rubbing her eyes with her hand and grumbling when she discover it was wet and that she was, in fact, cold. "Why am I - oh. Never mind."

She sat up reluctantly, only then realizing that the elderly healer was also dripping water, and supporting a dazed and equally soaked Fíli on his arm. "What the heck? Óin, what happened?" she demanded, scrambling to her feet and staggering sideways when her still numb feet didn't listen to her.

"Same thing as happened to you, is my guess," he grumbled, adjusting Fíli so he rested a little easier against him. "The Master's guards managed to catch him when that greasy rat Alfrid tripped him. They hit him over the head with a board and pushed him into the water. I had been in the area, so I saw what happened, and dove in after him once they left. He's all right, just a bit waterlogged. No concussion. But what about you? You don't exactly look pristine either."

"That's because I'm not," she said wearily, raising a hand to push some of her wet strands of hair out of her face, and only then remembering that that was a bad idea. The chilly water had numbed her arm earlier, but the strain she put on the muscles was enough to send a sharp pain through her arm.

Wincing, she dropped her arm, wrapping her other hand around it and ignoring Óin's sharp look. "Got caught by the Master's guards, had a knife fight with the man himself where both of us equally sucked, and then spent I don't know how long swimming through Lake-town trying not to be seen by the guards, or freeze to death, while trying to find Bard's house. Honestly, I have no idea how I actually managed to find it."

The older dwarf shook his head, scowling. "I couldn't catch all of that without my trumpet, but it sure sounded like you got yourself into a heap of trouble. You have a knack for that, you and every other member of this Company. Come on, let's get you to Bard's house to warm up. They'll have a fire going."

"Yay! Heat!" Elena cheered quietly. "Are they all safe? None of them got hurt?"

"Shaken up by the interrogation, but otherwise unharmed," Óin told her quietly. "Bofur's keeping an eye on things in town. We're still hoping we can get the Black Arrow to the tower now that most of the people are gone." He tugged Fíli up the steps to the door and rested him against the wall as he pulled the door open. "Come on, lad. In you go."

Fíli groaned as he stumbled into the house, collapsing on the floor in front of the fireplace and closing his eyes tiredly. Óin knelt down next to him and nudged him. "None of that now, lad. Just because you don't seem to have a concussion at first glance doesn't mean that we don't need you awake. If Elena's right, Smaug could attack tonight, and there's still people in town, not to mention we haven't got that Black Arrow to the tower yet neither. There's still work to be done."

"As long as I can change first," Elena grumbled. "We all need to get out of these clothes before we get sick."

"Actually, you're on the small side for a dwarf," Óin called, examining Fíli. "And putting on fresh clothes won't make you any thicker."

Elena sighed, feeling the beginnings of a stress headache forming in addition to her still-frozen body. "Sick, Óin. Sick," she repeated in a louder voice. "We could get sick from the water, so we need to change our clothes, otherwise it won't make a difference when you treat us for everything else."

"I've run a bath for you in the same room you used previously, Lady Elena," a female voice said quietly. Sigrid was standing by the stairs, a small smile on her face. "We had the hot water ready beforehand, and your clothes are up there waiting for you, along with all your other items."

"Sigrid?" Elena said with a happy sigh, already heading towards the stairs. "You're my new favorite person."

The young woman laughed softly, handing a pile of towels to her. "You helped my sister escape, correct? I am just doing a small part in repaying your kindness."

Elena stopped short when she reached the room and saw the steam rising from the tub. "Mm, nope. We're even now. This is amazing. Thank you, Miss Sigrid."

"Please, call me Sigrid."

"Only if you do the same for me," Elena returned, depositing the towels on the floor by the tub.

Sigrid reluctantly agreed and shut the door behind her. Elena wasted no time in discarding her sopping clothes and slipping into the tub, letting out a blissful sigh at the heat.

They didn't have time to spare, though, so she quickly washed up, going lighter over her cut, wincing at the still very much visible finger-shaped bruises wrapped around it. Reluctantly getting out and drying off, she pulled her last clean set of clothes out of her pack, silently blessing Sigrid for washing them while she'd been stuck with the Master.

Leaving her long-sleeved shirt in the bag for now, she threw on a simple undershirt and short-sleeved tunic over it, knowing Óin would insist on examining her arm anyways. Brushing her hair out as well as she could and tucking her family bead into her pocket, she descended the stairs again with Fíli's dagger in its sheath, feeling more secure with it at hand even in their more secure location.

To her surprise, both Fíli and Óin had bathed and changed - mostly, at least, and were now sitting in front of the fireplace with no braids in their hair at all. Even Fíli's mustache braids had been taken out, and he looked highly uncomfortable as he once more sat shirtless on the floor while Óin poked and prodded at his ribs, wincing occasionally.

She felt a strange heat that was definitely not from the fire color her cheeks as she absolutely and very skillfully avoided looking at the well-defined muscles in his - arms, it was absolutely his arms - which was definitely what had _not_ caught her attention in the first place. Nothing caught her attention, she just decided to temporarily stop in the middle of the stair right then. Honestly. She wasn't distracted at all.

She shook her head and hurried down the stairs before the heat in her cheeks suddenly set fire to her pants, both of them looking up at her arrival. "I didn't touch my arm, Óin. I figured you'd want to look at it before it was bandaged again."

"Good." The healer turned back to Fíli's ribs. "Are you sure this doesn't hurt?" he asked, prodding him none too gently in the side.

Fíli yelped, his arm wrapping instinctively around his side. "Well, now it does!" he snapped, rubbing the now-developing bruise. "You have fingers like a rock!"

"Better than having a head like one," Óin rebuked him, slathering a small amount of paste onto the spot before grabbing a roll of bandages and wrapping it around his chest. "You should know better by now than to try and sneak an injury by me."

"You were the one who told me that my hard head was what kept me from being too injured when they knocked me out!" the dwarf prince protested as Óin finished wrapping his ribs and tied it off.

"Doesn't mean that your head should be completely solid!" he retorted. "Now put your shirt back on before the blinding whiteness of your chest stuns Elena any more than it already has. Makes for a nice contrast with your red face, though," he chuckled to himself, turning from Fíli and gesturing for Elena to join him. "All right, lass. Let's see what you've done to yourself now. What happened?"

Elena grumbled, plopping down on the floor by a blushing Fíli who was struggling to put his tunic back on over his long-sleeved undershirt, determined not to meet his eyes. "I got mixed up after we separated. Took a wrong turn, and got caught by some of his soldiers. They took my two daggers, and drug me before the Master."

"What? Did he do anything to you?" Fíli demanded instantly, swinging his head towards her so fast his still-drying hair whipped him in the face.

Elena shrugged. "Not at first. Actually, I was probably the aggressor. Kicked him in the knee first time I saw him. Probably shouldn't have, but it was really satisfying."

Óin fumbled for his hearing trumpet - that she doubted still even worked after everything - and Fíli choked on air. "I beg your pardon?"

"Did you just say you antagonized the man who held you prisoner?" Fíli repeated in disbelief before shaking his head. "Never mind. It's you. Of course you did."

She shrugged again nonchalantly. "I mean, I paid for it, of course, but like I said, it was really satisfying. Almost more satisfying than stabbing him, actually." She grimaced, feeling her stomach churn at the reminder. "Which was not as pleasant or as fulfilling as my daydreams made it out to be. I'm honestly surprised I didn't get sick."

"Hold on, lass," Óin held up a hand, the other going to her left arm. "You skipped a whole lot there. Why don't you start with how you paid for it. Is that how this happened?" he asked, gesturing towards her arm as he began examining it.

"No. At least, well, technically, no. Ow! Óin, if it's bleeding, I think it's safe to say that it's going to hurt when you touch it!" she broke off, glaring at the older dwarf.

Fíli, in the midst of redoing his mustache braids, snickered. "Welcome to the joys of having Óin as your chief healer. He doesn't know the meaning of the term 'bedside manner'." He paused, his eyes landing - and lingering - on the fresh bruises on her arm. He quickly sobered, eyes growing dark.

"Clearly," Elena grumbled, settling back down when the healer chastised her for moving. "Anyways, they restrained me better after that, because the one stupid guard from before remembered that I was hurt there, and used it to keep me under control."

"That explains the fresh bruises," Óin nodded to himself. "Now best go on before the lad loses control and goes after him all on his own."

Elena rolled her eyes. "There's not much more to tell. They dragged me to his own private barge. He's stolen all the money he could get his hands on from the people, and everyone who could afford to pay to be evacuated has been. So the boats will stop after this. He's having his boat loaded up with treasures, and was planning on getting out of here before the dragon attacked. He also mentioned something about selling me to the highest bidder several - ouch! Óin!"

"Sorry, lass." And he genuinely did look apologetic, releasing her arm and fetching the paste from near Fíli.

"Anyways, he thought I was weak enough that I only needed one guard, and sent the rest to help fetch his treasures. Which was a mistake on his part, because I was then able to take down his guard with a candelabra that miraculously went where I wanted it to go, straight into his face. Then I got into an awful knife fight with the Master. And by awful, I mean we both sucked. Seriously. I'm pretty sure we both managed to get each other only because of sheer luck, then any actual skill."

She snorted. "He moves surprisingly fast for a man of his weight. Caught me off guard and managed to slice at my arm, and reopen the cut. I swiped back out of desperation more than anything as I staggered off to the side, and it somehow ended up in his gut. There's too much fat for it to have hit anything vital, but it was enough to provide a good distraction. Then I proved my gracefulness and fell overboard and managed to swim away, getting lost multiple times, until I recognized Bard's house, where you guys showed up."

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage," Óin announced, slathering her arm with what she recognized as an athelas paste and wrapping it up in another bandage. "Looks like the orc-lover wasn't able to cut deep enough to do anything besides reopen the wound. The paste should be enough to keep it from infection, but I'll check it again later. Try not to lift your arm above your head unless you have to."

Elena nodded, thanking him quietly for the news before heading back upstairs to throw on her long-sleeved undershirt under her tunic to help with the chill and returning downstairs. Fíli had just finished tying off his last mustache braid when she plopped down beside him, pushing her hair out of her face impatiently.

"Okay, I know that Kíli said it's almost like a marriage proposal or whatever, but could you please braid my hair properly for me?" she almost begged, startling Fíli. "I can't redo the family braid on my own, I need the rest of my hair pulled out of my face before we possibly face a dragon tonight anyways, and Óin won't let me lift my arm above my head unless it's an emergency. Normally I'd ask Celia, or maybe Thorin, but neither of them are here right now. Bofur's not here right now either, Óin's off doing who knows what, and you're the one I know and trust the most anyways."

He shook whatever he'd been thinking from his head, smiling softly at her. "Don't worry about it, Elena. I understand. And in the absence of Thorin, I have been trained to take his place as leader, so I would still be the one to braid your hair as needed, as none of your family or mentors are here. Do you have your family bead?" She nodded, pulling it out from her pocket and offering it to him, but he didn't take it, shaking his head.

"Wait until I'm done," he told her, settling down in front of her and carefully parting her hair for the family braid. "Kíli wasn't entirely accurate, you know," he added, starting to braid her hair with a gentleness that belied the fierce persona he often portrayed. "Braiding isn't just to be done between family or guardians, and it's not a marriage proposal, either.

"It is, however, something considered more private and meaningful. If you're willing to let someone braid your hair, it means you trust them enough to place yourself in a vulnerable position with them. So it would have been fine for Kíli to braid your sister's hair anyways, as he was both her close friend, and the leader of the group, in the absence of Thorin and myself."

Elena regarded him with curiosity. He was focused on her braid, careful not to lose his place, but he paused once and met her gaze with fond amusement. She blushed, but didn't look away. "So this is okay both because we're close friends, and because you're technically the head of our clan, or tribe, or whatever while Thorin's gone?" He nodded. "So then why did Kíli react all funny when Celia asked him? According to her, he and Ori both started blushing like crazy, as if she had proposed marriage to them."

Fíli shrugged, finishing with her family braid and tying it off with her bead before moving behind her and starting to braid all of her hair back behind her. "Ori is shy, and I don't think he was close enough to your sister at the time for him to consider it appropriate. As for my brother... It's Kíli. Who knows what went through his head? If I had to wager a guess, however, I would place my money on the fact that it was Celia who asked him."

Elena was silent while her mind tried to process this. "You mean - " She stopped.

"I mean that if you had been the one to ask him for help, he doubtless would have agreed with perhaps a little gentle mocking about wishing to marry him." Fíli's voice was filled with amusement. "Done." He tied the end of her braid off with a hair tie and let it fall to her back. "Thank you for trusting me with this," he said quietly.

Elena turned to face him, unable to help her smile. "Well, we've been close friends for a while now, and I've trusted you with my life for about as long. Might as well start trusting you with my hair at some point, too, right? Thanks for doing my hair, by the way." She ran the fingers of her good arm over her braid, marveling at how secure it seemed to feel. "I don't think it'll be coming out any time soon."

"It shouldn't," he assured her. "My amad taught it to me when I was little and wanted to know how to braid her hair."

"Aww, baby Fíli braiding hair," Elena cooed, moving to get up when Fíli stopped her. "Fíli?"

He met her gaze steadily. "Would you mind helping me with the braids in my hair?"

Elena felt her smile was so bright it could have outshone dragon fire.

xXx

In hindsight, she didn't think they really compared.

Fíli showing he trusted her with something like this, showing how much he cared for her, filled her with a gentle warmth from her head to her toes.

And dragon fire, a scorching heat that consumed everything it touched, hungrily devouring everything it touched with no care for innocent lives.

Of course, she had an excellent source for both points. Fíli's sign of trust had left her feeling a happy warmth that had managed to survive even Bofur's semi-panicked proclamation that Bard had been taken and imprisoned by the Master. She could probably still feel the warmth now, if she tried.

But dragon fire - the fiery rage of an insulted dragon burned all around her, caressing her cheeks and eating away at the supports beneath her feet. Behind her, the Master stood with a sword whose reach was much longer than her own with just Fíli's dagger for protection, determined to not lose his last chance at increasing his hoard of gold, unseeing or uncaring of the dangers as gold lust swarmed his mind.

Fíli was gone, had been crushed under a falling beam when Smaug first attacked, and she had been forced to go on without him when the Master saw her. And in front of her...

In front of her, she stood face to face with an angry dragon, his eyes glittering with malice. His teeth dripped with red as he casually knocked down another house with his tail, all the while his eyes fixed on her. She felt tears of fear trickle down her face, dripping down to combine with the shining waters below, reflecting the fierce glow of Lake-town burning.

Smaug sniffed the air, and a wicked smirk crept across his face. " **The other randir,** " he crooned, delighting in the look of horror that took over her face when she realized what he knew. " **I wondered where you were. I wondered if your blood would taste as good as your sister's.** "

His tongue flicked about in his mouth. " **But I grow weary of playing.** " His chest began to glow, signifying the growing flames in his chest. " **Time to burn!** " he shouted as he lunged towards her, jaws gaping wide as she could only stand petrified before him as her world was enveloped in flames and burning before everything went dark and blissfully cool and empty.

 _And the bells shall ring in gladness_  
 _At the Mountain King's return._  
 _But all shall fail in sadness_  
 _And the lake will shine and burn._

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah. That happened. I've been exploring the concept of "What if they failed in their quest" recently, and this is the result...**

 **Hey look! There he is! I knew Smaug was around here somewhere... Also, I apologize for the terribly written action scenes, but at least I finally stabbed the Master like literally everyone's been requesting for the last few chapters, right? *Sigh* I'm not looking forward to writing the BOFA. Celia's not going to have a good time, especially if I can't write action scenes to save my life.**

 **Of course, I'm probably not going to have a good time either, depending on how people look at this chapter. I mean, there's shirtless Fíli... but I think the** **ending might bother one or two people... *dodges pitchfork***

 **Chapter title comes from the song of the same name in the BOFA Soundtrack.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to ColdOnePaul, Outofthisworldgal, Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **ColdOnePaul: Things definitely heated up here... in more ways than one... ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: I think I've got a suitable death in mind for the Master... Rather fitting, too... :D As for the assumes... *winces* There's still a chance he survived, don't give up hope just yet! (It's not like I'm building up your hope just to see it crash to the ground, or anything). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: *Flings myself gleefully into dragon's mouth.* Foolish one! Don't you see that this creature capable of creating rage and pain belongs to me? (Might be more accurate to say it is me). mwahahaha - oh, and btw, you said nothing about keeping Fíli alive, so... *shrugs* As for Bard and his children... well, they say no news is good news, right? I mean, we don't know for sure that anything's happened to them yet... Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! (Idk how you're gonna take this one... should be interesting... I'll put my fireproof suit on just in case, though)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yep! She's not gonna go down without a fight. And if you loved that little moment between Fílena (Aww, look, I came up with a ship name right as it dies), I think you're gonna like the bit of connection in this one... :D *Sniffs* Stop leaving such nice reviews, I'm trying to be evil over here! *Must resist nice reviewers* I'm glad that you like how I portray this story, and my characters - it's always something I try to be aware of - to keep them real. I'm glad to hear that it seems to be working. Thanks for a lovely review (it made my day, you have no idea) and I hope you enjoyed it! :)**_

 _ **E: What's next? Dangerous question... I'm not sure you'll like the answer... And I hope your cold gets better quickly! (I know summer colds suck!) I'm glad you liked it though! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit (or Smaug), but Elena and Celia are all mine.**


	46. Chapter 46 - The Painful Truth

~~ Celia ~~

For a moment, everything was silent, only the rapidly disappearing sound of Smaug's beating wings echoing in the large hall. Then everyone seemed to come back to life, and the air was filled with groans of pain and anxious calls as they all began to check on each other.

Celia sat up with a moan, arms going to her back to pull her quiver off. It was comfortable enough to wear on the run, but being thrown onto it had not done her back any favors.

Discarding it on the floor, she rubbed her bruised back for a minute before turning her attention to her leg. She didn't think it was broken, perhaps thanks to the fabled sturdiness of dwarven bodies, but it was definitely injured, as she could feel the blood dripping down her leg.

But the whole reason for her wound in the first place was still there, leaving her trapped on the floor with a large chunk of broken wall on her leg. Lurching forward, she tried to roll it off her, but was forced to give it up when it barely moved, and even that only seemed to dig it further into her leg. She tried again, straining to push it off, but had to stop again, her chest heaving as sweat trickled down her forehead.

There had to be a way to get it off her. Panting heavily, she leaned forward again, this time noticing that the rock was leaning against another piece of rubble next to her leg. In all probability, that was most likely the only reason her leg had not been crushed by the rock. If she could get some sort of lever, she might even be able to use it to wedge the rock high enough for her to get free.

"Celia!"

"Aah!" She lashed out at the unexpected sound, whacking Kíli in the knee with an elbow as he crouched beside her. "Don't scare me like that!" she whined, rubbing her now sore elbow.

"Sorry. How'd this happen?" he asked, examining her leg with concern.

"I dove left to avoid him when his claw smashed into the wall," she explained, noticing that he favored his own right leg as he cleared some of the rubble away from around her and knelt down. "A piece of the rubble - ouch! - a piece of the rubble landed on me, and it's too big for me to move."

"I don't believe that I can move this on my own, either," Kíli agreed. "Hang on. I think everyone else is all right for the most part, let me see if I can get someone to help." Pushing himself to his feet, he limped over to the railing. "Dwalin? Dori? Are either of you close by? We need some help over here!"

"Kíli! You're all right!" came the shout back from Dori. "What's wrong?"

"Celia's trapped under a piece of rubble, and it's too big for either of us to move it safely."

"All right, lad, I'll see if I can get over there. Might take me a minute, that cursed dragon's left holes in the floor, may he never fly again. Your uncle's outside with Balin and Dwalin, checking on the wall."

Kíli came back to Celia, stretching out his right leg beside her and pulling up the other. "Dori's coming. He should be strong enough to move it, although I'm surprised he's willing to leave Nori and Ori alone."

Celia nodded, shifting her position and wincing when it sent a spark of pain through her leg. "What happened to your leg? And are the others all right? What about Bilbo? Did you see him?"

Kíli held up a hand. "Woah, there, I can only answer one question at a time. I think the others are all unharmed for the most part, although Bombur's been separated from the others by a collapsed wall. Bífur and Glóin are digging him out now. I saw Bilbo on the rampart with Uncle a couple minutes ago, and they both seemed fine. Everyone's a bit singed by dragon fire, and a few of us will need bandages, I'll wager, but other than that, I think you're the worst off, and that's just because you're stuck under this rock."

"Okay, good." Celia sagged backwards, releasing a heavy breath. "I was kind of worried for a bit there, but bandages and burns I can handle." She closed her eyes. "What about Smaug? Is he - is he at Lake-town?"

"No," Kíli responded immediately. "It took us three days to get here. Even a dragon would need time to get there. Maybe another fifteen minutes, I'd wager? It's hard to say. I've never tried to calculate just how fast a dragon could fly, but it's faster than any of us could ever hope to travel. Hang on, I think I hear Dori."

Scrambling to his feet with much less grace than usual, he made his way around the rubble scattered to her left, returning a moment later with the white-haired dwarf, his face flushed as if it had been sunburned.

"Goodness, Lady Celia, are you all right?" the tea-maker asked, crouching beside her to study the rock.

She grimaced. "I've been better, but I don't think it's actually all that bad. Once I've got the rock off, I can clean and bandage it, and check on everyone else. What about you? And Nori and Ori?"

The old dwarf huffed, getting into position by the rock. "Nori has a bloody nose from running face-first into a wall, and Ori is playing upset about tearing his mittens on a rock to cover up the fact that he's bruised his hands, but all three of us Ri brothers are safe. Master Kíli, if you wouldn't mind, I need you to brace Lady Celia while I lift the rock up, then pull her out of the way."

Kíli nodded. "I can do that. But I thought I told you a long time ago to just call me 'Kíli'. I thought we were all on a first name basis by now," he pouted, moving behind Celia and wrapping his hands around her sides. "I'm just gonna pull you backwards, Celia, on Dori's count. Ready?"

She nodded. Dori placed his arms carefully under the rock, counted to three, then heaved upwards, visibly straining as he managed to lift the large piece of rubble up a few inches. "Now, Kíli," he forced out.

Kíli slid his arms forward until they were wrapped all the way around Celia and heaved backwards, pulling them both back against what was left of the railing as Dori lost his grip on the rock and it slammed into the floor with a loud thud, raising a cloud of dust. "You all right, Celia?" he gasped, propping himself up on his elbows.

She nodded, forcing herself into an upright position. "Yeah. Dori?"

"I am unharmed, merely winded," Dori assured them both.

"Okay, good." Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, Celia glanced down at her leg and immediately groaned.

"What, what is it?" Kíli demanded, scrambling to sit upright beside her and stare down at her leg.

"I ripped my pants. I liked these pants," she complained.

There was a large hole ripped in her pants on her right leg, from just below the knee to a few inches above her ankle. Blood from a short gash in her leg seeped through her pants and trickled down to the ground, and she could see a small stain from where her leg had laid earlier on the edge of where the rock now rested on the floor.

"I can mend them, no worries," Dori assured her. "I'm more worried about your leg. That looks decidedly unpleasant."

A loud roar made them all freeze and look up, suddenly reminded of the very real threat flying towards Lake-town. "I'll survive," Celia insisted. "Can you help me up? I need to see what's happening. If he's - if he's going to attack Lake-town, I need to see what's going on."

Dori looked ready to protest, but a glance from Kíli stopped him. "Yeah. Can you walk on it?" he asked, placing his arm under hers and boosting her up, steadying her when her leg faltered.

She waited until she had regained her balance to nod, limping determinedly towards the rubble that led outside. Dori and Kíli followed, Kíli's gait nearly matching hers.

It was a bit of a struggle navigating through the pieces of wall scattered everywhere, growing more frequent the closer they grew to the large opening in the mountain wall. They were joined on the way by Nori and Ori, both of whom glanced pointedly at Celia's leg, but were conveniently ignored.

Kíli almost face-planted after he tripped over a small rock, and she couldn't help a laugh, especially when he glared at her from the security of Dori's arms, who released him a moment later with a warning to 'be more careful.'

When they got outside, though, all thoughts of joking were lost. It was still dark out, although they'd apparently been in the mountain so long that hours had passed without them realizing it, as there were hints of the sun rising in the east.

And in the distance, big enough to still be faintly visible to them, was a large winged creature, flying straight towards the distant city. Worse, though, was when a red glow appeared, and fire began to burn bright in the darkness, spreading as it caught buildings.

Smaug had reached Lake-town.

"Oh, no," Celia breathed, staggering to the end of the ramparts and clinging to the edge, barely sensing Bilbo coming to stand beside her, looking as horrified as her.

"Those poor souls," Balin mourned, watching as fresh bursts of flames flared up.

"Celia." And suddenly Kíli was beside her. "Fíli and Elena are there. And Óin and Bofur. Will they - will they be all right?" he stammered, his eyes fixed on the distant blaze. "Can they survive something like this? Can they stop him?"

Celia could only shake her head, not taking her eyes of off Lake-town. "I don't know. I'm sorry. Bard had a, um, a Black Arrow, I think. If the Master doesn't stop him, he can use that to kill Smaug. But Fíli and Elena don't have anything that could even scratch a dragon!"

Her eyes went wide with horrified realization and she clutched at his arm. "Kíli. He knew what I was. He knew I was a randir just by smelling me in the middle of everything else going on. Elena - she'll be right there, and he knew there was two of us! He'll be able to smell her, and find her!"

"Elena's smart," Kíli reminded her, although his voice lacked the confidence it usually held. "And Fíli will be there with her, and Óin, and Bofur. And if Elena knew this was coming, she would have been able to come up with some sort of plan against it. They'll be fine - all of them. They'll use the Black Arrow to kill the dragon, and then we'll see them come sauntering up in three or four days bragging about how they killed a dragon and we didn't."

"He's right," Bilbo said quietly. "You girls have been planning for this trip for almost two years now. She'll have some sort of plan in place."

Another burst of angry reds and oranges made them all glance up as Lake-town further succumbed to the dragon's attack. Bilbo looked away from the inferno, glancing behind him as if looking for some sort of escape. When he only became more worried, Celia followed his gaze, and felt dread grow inside her.

All of the dwarves in Erebor had made it outside and were watching the inferno with varying looks of horror, pity, and anger. All except for one.

Thorin.

Physically, he was standing right next to Dwalin and Balin, but his gaze was directed towards the halls of Erebor. And his face held no compassion, or righteous fury. Only greed, and a cold, calculating look. And, perhaps worst of all, he held no worry, and had made no sign of questioning her about the state of his heir - his _nephew_ \- currently trapped in the burning city.

Her gaze slid away from him, meeting briefly with Balin's, who appeared as worried about it as her, before returning once more to Lake-town. It stayed there for the next half hour, straining to see as the barrage continued, even when most of the others lowered themselves to the ground to rest. Above them, the sky continued to brighten, although it was outshone by the carnage below.

Until, finally, Smaug rose high into the air -

And plummeted back to the lake, hitting with an impact that shook the ground all the way up to the mountain.

"What was that, what happened?" Ori asked, lurching to his feet.

"It fell. I saw it," Bilbo whispered as they all scrambled to stare over the edge of the ramparts. "It's dead! Smaug is dead!"

"By my beard! I think he's right!" Glóin swore, pointing up to the sky. "Look there! The ravens of Erebor are returning to the mountain!" And indeed, several of the black birds could be seen flying towards the mountain in the distance.

"Aye," Dwalin agreed. "Word will spread. Before long every soul in Middle Earth will know - The dragon is dead!"

The Company started cheering and talking excitedly to each other, leaving only a few who weren't celebrating in some way or another. Bilbo, Celia, and Kíli still cast worried glances towards the smoldering ruins of Lake-town, and Thorin was still focused on Erebor, slipping away from the lookout point, and towards the main gates of Erebor.

At last Celia shook her head in determination, drawing the attention of the other two. "They knew Smaug was coming, and obviously, someone was able to kill him. That means they were prepared in some way. That increases their chances of survival. They survived it in the original timeline, I don't think Elena being there will change it too much this time. Especially because this wasn't even the big thing we were supposed to change. Which means that there's still more for us to do, and to quote Thorin, we kind of need to be alive to do that."

"They survive it originally?" Kíli's brow creased in thought. "But if you and Elena weren't there in the original timeline, why did anyone stay there then?"

Celia grimaced. "Someone got hurt. Badly. Thorin left them behind to recuperate while the rest continued on towards the mountain. Óin stayed behind to help, and Bofur... Bofur was drunk, and overslept."

Kíli nodded. "That explains them, but not Fíli. He's Thorin's heir. Why would he stay behind? You never said anything about him being hurt originally. And I would've stayed with him if he'd been hurt."

She chewed on one of her few surviving nails, not looking him in the eye. "That's because he wasn't."

"But then why would Fíli stay if he wasn't hurt? The only reason he'd stay was if -" He stopped. "Was if someone he really cared about was forced to stay there. The same reason he stayed there this time for Elena. But if you two weren't around then, and Thorin was safe, the only person left would be -"

"You," Celia finished for him softly, smiling with no humor in it. "Because we weren't there in the original timeline, you all stayed together as a group in Mirkwood, so you were all captured. During the escape in the barrels, the gate was shut, and someone had to open them. Since Elena wasn't there to do it, you did."

Kíli shook his head. "But Elena wasn't injured badly enough to warrant leaving her behind. Uncle just used that as an excuse to protect her as best as he could. But I'm not a dwarrowdam, and I'm older than both of you. Why would he leave me behind for a scratch to the arm?"

Celia swallowed hard. "Because it wasn't just a scratch to the arm," she said softly. "You were shot with a poisoned arrow in the leg. You were fading fast, and wouldn't have been able to keep up with them."

Bilbo looked just as stunned as Kíli, it being the first time either of them had heard the story. "No. No." Kíli shook his head immediately. "You're wrong. Uncle would never - he raised us on tales of the Lonely Mountain. He wouldn't just leave both of us behind in Lake-town just because I couldn't travel as fast as I used to."

"Your uncle wouldn't," Celia agreed quietly, surprising them both. "But... it wasn't your uncle who gave the order. I know what that sounds like," she said immediately. "And he was still the leader of the Company, and was physically fine. But emotionally, he wasn't who he used to be."

Kíli sucked in a tight breath. "What are you saying?"

Celia closed her eyes, silently praying for strength. She could see that he already knew what she was talking about, but didn't want to say it. "He was blinded by the desire for gold to everything else that mattered." She opened her eyes and searched his pained gaze for understanding. "He lost who he was because of his greed. He was able to find himself again eventually, but Kíli, it's starting here, you can already see the signs -"

"No," Kíli cut her off firmly, shaking his head in denial. "No, you're wrong. It's not - he's not sick!"

"Kíli, a dragon just attacked Lake-town! The very same place where his nephew and heir is residing! And he barely even cast a _glance_ at it because he was completely focused on the mountain!" she hissed, lowering her voice when she noticed a few of the dwarves glancing their way. Most of them were either focused on food or sleeping, but this was _not_ something she wanted to explain to them right now. "Was that something he would have done before the quest?"

Kíli just scowled darkly at the ground, looking almost exactly like a younger version of Thorin for an instant. "He had to be focused on the quest, we only had a limited window of time to even get into the mountain! And if he doesn't find the Arkenstone, he'll never be able to unite the seven tribes and win their support. He's - he's always been like that, focused on one task, and only that," he finished weakly.

"To the extent of ignoring his family?" Celia asked softly, nodding knowingly when Kíli didn't say anything. "Because even at the beginning of the quest, we could see how much you all cared about each other. And I'm sorry, Kíli, but that's not the dwarf who didn't even bat an eyelid at the possibility of Fíli being hurt or worse in Lake-town."

Kíli shook his head unhappily. "He's not sick. He's not - I'll prove it to you. Come on." Even as upset as he was, though, he still helped her navigate around the piles of rubble strewn everywhere as they headed back into the mountain, followed by Bilbo. "And then we really need to get your leg looked at."

Celia rolled her eyes. "I'll check everyone out after this. I saw Nori. His nose might be broken, in which case I'll probably have to reset it."

"Probably isn't the first time, probably won't be the last," Kíli remarked, frowning when there was no sign of his uncle in the large hall, though the liquid gold on the bottom floor had started to cool. Casting a wary glance at the tunnel, he led them through it back to the throne room, noticing that the door - which they had closed behind them - was now cracked open. Pushing it open all the way, they all stepped hesitantly into the piles of treasure.

Thorin looked up from his position crouched over a stack of jewels, a large golden crown resting in his hands. "Kíli." He stood, letting the crown fall to the ground and picking up a ruby instead, admiring the facets of it as he twisted it back and forth in his hand. "This is what we fought for, Kíli," he said proudly, stretching his hands out over the vast array of wealth. "And it is ours."

* * *

 **A/N: So, Smaug is dead now. That's a thing. Whether or not he stays dead is a whole 'nother thing, but we will get the story of what happened at some point, because Óin and Bofur will let them know. And Thorin... Thorin's not doing so well, guys... :/**

 **If the last bit of this story seems weird/rushed/whatever, I apologize. It's almost two in the morning here, and I was just finishing up when I saw something moving in the corner of my eye. And because it never rains but it pours, there was a giant, freaking centipede on my floor, hiding behind my dresser. Not the crunchy kind - the hairy kind, with long legs that move super fast and appear in your nightmares for weeks. And of course, none of my male family members are awake. (Joy.)**

 **Thirty minutes, one really big pep talk, lots of frantic praying, thirty kleenexes and a pair of gloves, and a power outage (totally not my fault... the fact that it's specific to my room means nothing) later, it's dead. I may be traumatized for the rest of the week, but it's dead. (In case you couldn't tell, I have a severe phobia when it comes to creatures like that.)**

 **So anyways, apologies if that story ended up being more interesting than the actual chapter.:P On a brighter note, though, I am going to be getting my hair dyed with my sister tomorrow! It'll be the first time for both of us, and I'm both nervous and excited.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal and Child of Dreams for reviewing! (Your guys' reviews have actually been influential in my decision on what to do with the group in Lake-town - whether for good or for ill, is yet to be seen)**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Lol, maybe I should do a reverse of that and have the Master come by in a stretcher, wrapped up like a mummy and writing his will, holding flowers and counting his gold for the "very last time". You think the last section is a dream? What? Why on earth would you think that? I've never done anything like that before - *stops* *ignores chapter 37* *clears throat awkwardly* Anyways... who knows what it could be?**_ ** _¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Guess we'll find out sooner or later. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)_**

 ** _Child of Dreams: If it's any comfort, I think I've been through just as much trauma as any surviving characters. I will take a dragon over a centipede any day. :P Pull a Glorfindel? I dunno... I'm thinking, that if someone's dead in my story, they're gonna stay dead. Except for the Master. Everyone seemed to like him, so if he dies, I'll probably find a way to bring him back. ;) And Fíli's included by default? You should have said so sooner, sorry - no returns. (On the bright side, it's not confirmed that any of them are dead just yet...). And Celia's not dead... yet. We'll see. Her sacrifice has already been planned from the beginning. What can you do?_** _ **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Celia and Elena.**


	47. Chapter 47 - The Slow Descent of Madness

~~ Celia ~~

Celia leaned against the rampart wall with a sigh, looking out at the distant lake. It had been three days since Smaug had been killed, and she could still see smoke rising in the distance.

There had been no sign of survivors that they could see, but the town itself was too far for them to make anything out, and it would take any at least three days to reach the mountain.

But here was noon on the third day, and there she was, straining her eyes for any sign of life. It was the same thing she'd been doing every day since the dragon had fallen, and every day, she was met with the same sight.

Nothing.

"Any sign?" Kíli asked, coming up beside her and resting his arms on the ledge, a bandage wrapped around one fist. She wasn't surprised. He'd hardly left her alone in Erebor as soon as they'd discovered that Thorin was suffering from the gold sickness.

She shook her head regretfully. "Nothing. But it takes around three days to get here, and they probably would have tried to help any survivors escape the wreckage."

Taking one last look out at the horizon, and letting her eyes trail over the wreckage of Dale near the base of the mountain, she turned away with a sigh. "Logically, I know there's a very good chance that they'll be fine. They were originally, and I don't think we've changed enough that things would go too terribly wrong down there. But mentally..."

"Mentally you're worried that they might have tripped over a brick and killed themselves," Kíli finished dryly.

Celia kicked a rock in the path as they slowly made their way back into the mountain, wincing when the rock turned out to be heavier than she had expected. "Yeah. It's just - we were never really separated for long growing up, and if we were, it was only for a day or two at most. Now this is the second time that it's happened, and both times she's been in grave danger, and I can't do anything about it."

Kíli nodded in understanding, rubbing his still sore - but finally treated - shin as he followed her inside the mountain. Dwalin had had to threaten to sit on him before he was willing to admit that he'd been smacked in the shin by a piece of falling rubble as well, and had been forcibly examined and treated by Celia.

Her own leg had developed a lovely-looking bruise around the small gash her own run-in with rubble had given her, and any contact with the tender area was still painful to the touch, but neither of them were limping anymore.

Nori had called them the bruised battlers, and promptly made fun of them for getting matching injuries. At least, he had until Dori and Dwalin had hunted him down and held him down while Celia reset his nose.

His language had been a bit more colorful after that.

"Has anyone else been acting strangely lately?" she asked quietly as they began the trek back to the guardroom where they'd set up camp.

Several of the dwarves had wanted to set up camp in the great hall with the gold floor - including Thorin - but the others had managed to dissuade them by reminding them of the great big hole in the wall thanks to Smaug. They'd spent three days in the guardroom, switching their time between shoring up the outer wall so that Erebor had at least some line of defense, and searching for the Arkenstone.

And in those three days, over a third of the Company had begun voluntarily wandering among the stacks of gold, letting it run through their fingers and murmuring to themselves with dazed looks in their eyes or counting it obsessively.

Kíli's unbandaged hand clenched into a fist. "I don't know. Maybe? Glóin's been locked up in the treasury ever since you cleared him for duty. Dwalin's with Thorin wherever he goes, and Nori's always had an eye for anything shiny, secret spymaster or not. Balin seems fine, and Bombur's still only ever been interested in his food. Bífur's as strange as he always is, and Dori's the same, but Ori... he's been sketching a lot lately. More than usual."

Celia turned to look up at him. "But Ori always sketches. Maybe he's bored, and just sketching more than usual since he can't do as much physical labor until his burns heal." But she couldn't deny the sudden twisting in her stomach at her words.

Her friend shook his head. "He's been sketching the treasury. The stacks of gold coins, the jewels... he'll stay in there for hours just drawing a single piece. And he snapped at Dori when he tried to get him to leave for a bite to eat."

Now that was concerning. Ori almost always put up with his brother's mother-henning, and rarely got so worked up that he snapped. He was usually more a mixture of resignation and amusement than anything, not anger.

Add in a room filled with gold, and she was not liking the most likely answer.

"I..." she opened and shut her mouth wordlessly, unsure of what to say. "I never really thought that Ori might have trouble with that. He just seemed so... I don't know. Innocent? Or, at least, if he was, that it might be just drawing, ya know?"

Kíli snorted, waving a hand in the air. "No, I understand what you're trying to say. I wouldn't really have thought of him being affected either. But the gold sickness is just that. A sickness. The victims get sick indiscriminately, regardless of age, class, or gender. Unfortunately, it's also similar to an illness in that some of us are more prone to it than others, just by what family we're born into. Others can become more susceptible to it by factors that affect them after birth, like I said earlier."

They crossed back into the guardroom and were immediately waylaid by Glóin, a pad filled with numbers in his hand and a dazed look to his eye. "Ah, Kíli, Celia, there you are! Thorin's been looking for you. Says it's time for you two to get back to searching. I was just about to go back myself and work on counting some more, had a bit of a break myself."

Kíli's jaw tightened, but he ended up nodding in reluctant agreement as they followed the banker back into the treasury, formerly known as Smaug's lair. It still stank of dragon, and evidence of his greed and power was everywhere.

From the claw marks in the walls, to the scorch marks and bits of melted gold scattered across various parts of the room, to the dusty skeletons they found every now and again as they continued their search. Whenever that happened, the already heavy air would grow temporarily heavier as they moved the bodies to a room set aside for that purpose.

And while she hated herself for it, she couldn't help but be relieved every time they found another one. Because every time they came across another reminder of the gruesome cost of the gold now in their possession, the feverish look slowly appearing in the eyes of the Company, one after the other, would lift, ever so slightly.

Thorin's commands to find the Arkenstone would slow in their frequency, and lighten in their intensity. He would get this grieved look in his eyes as he watched the bodies be carted past for interment, though sometimes... sometimes, she thought that the grief was more for the Company, than for the bodies long dead.

And then a gold coin would fall, or light reflecting off of some jewel would catch his attention, and it would be gone again. And his eyes, darker blue than they had been for the whole of the quest, would scan the endless piles of gold once more. The affectionate looks he once held for his nephews alone would be cast on a jewel shining particularly bright, or a crown he thought handsome.

In some ways, he was still the same Thorin he had always been. He insisted they took breaks to eat and rest. He would speak fondly to Kíli, and spend time reminiscing with Balin. And sometimes, he would spare a genuine smile and bright blue eyes lit with warmth for his nephew, or, occasionally, Celia, when he saw her with Kíli.

But in others, he was so different it just made the similarities hurt all the more because it reminded them of someone who was no longer with them. He would show affection to Kíli by offering him crowns or rings to wear, neither of which Kíli wanted, and the exchange would leave both of them visibly upset. Thorin would be confused and angry about Kíli "denying his heritage," and Kíli was hurt at the complete and visible change to the dwarf who'd helped raise him.

And he wasn't the only one to change. Celia and Kíli had been forced to watch with aching hearts as, one by one, the rest of the Company seemed to fall under the spell of the gold. From Glóin, who obsessively counted the gold when he wasn't searching for the Arkenstone, to Nori, who could frequently be heard jingling as he walked, to Dwalin, who searched for the Arkenstone with an obsessiveness that nearly rivaled Thorin's, though for slightly different reasons than his king.

Kíli had explained it to her on the second day they were there, taking advantage of one of their breaks to explore the halls of Erebor with torches in hand.

~~~~~~~ _One Day Earlier_ ~~~~~~~

"Everyone can get gold sickness," he confided to her, holding his torch out ahead of them as a light. "Dwarves, humans, even elves, and, presumably, hobbits."

"Really? Even elves and hobbits?" Celia asked skeptically as she matched his pace, slowing as they came to a split hallway, and taking the path to the left.

Kíli nodded emphatically. "It's different for all of us, though, I think. Bilbo told me when we were working next to each other yesterday that he got affected when he saw the gold at first, too. Said he could feel the desire, just for a moment, to have some of that gold in his possession, and almost forgot about the dragon guarding said gold."

Celia wrinkled her nose, ducking to avoid some low-hanging cobwebs. "Really? I didn't know that."

The dark-haired prince snorted, lifting his torch to examine the runes on one of the doors in the hall before continuing on. "Yeah. Said he felt the desire to have some of that gold, just for a minute... and then his stomach growled and all he could think about was food. And _then_ he remembered about the dragon."

Celia shook her head with amusement. "Typical Bilbo. Though, to be fair, I can't necessarily say I'd disagree with him there. Anyways, you were saying everyone can get the sickness?"

Kíli nodded, adopting a more solemn tone. "I know that everyone thinks it's a dwarf thing, and that's because we're the ones who are most known for it, but everyone can get it. Men are the most likely to after us, though. If I had to, I'd wager that the Master of Lake-town has some version of it, with his lust for gold. I doubt he'd have actually let us go potentially wake a dragon if he hadn't been so focused on getting rich."

They stopped by an open door leading to a bedroom, and stepped in by unspoken agreement. It was dusty, and filled with cobwebs, and the bed was made, but faded with dust and age. Clothes and books were scattered everywhere, and a half-finished sewing project on a dusty chair all pointed to signs of a hasty exit. An opened door off to the side led to a version of a bathroom, combs and pins scattered across the sink.

"Okay, I'll grant you humans, if only because I'm pretty sure we had a version of going gold-crazy back in our old universe," Celia conceded. "But what makes you think elves can get gold sickness?"

"Thranduil," Kíli said simply.

Celia swung around to look at him, the light from her torch reflecting wildly in the shadows on the walls. "What? You think - you think Thranduil had gold sickness?"

The dwarf prince shrugged, tracing a finger along some carvings in the wall by the door. "Why else would a previously decent enough and honorable ally refuse to help women and children in need? He wasn't exactly friendly before, but he was willing enough to enter into an alliance with us, and old records showed him offering help to people who needed it before - people who weren't even his allies before. But then he comes to Erebor, and gets promised jewels, and lots of them, and gets denied, because Thror himself was gold sick."

"And when you needed help, he refused," Celia realized. "I mean, refusing to fight the dragon was kind of understandable. I doubt either of them were thinking of dragons when they entered into an alliance, and Thranduil wanted to protect his people. But then, when they needed food and shelter, he still refused."

"Which is a symptom of gold sickness," Kíli pointed out. "Not caring for the needs of others. Your word means nothing to you if it means it could cost you whatever you value. Your morals are quickly left behind when you become sick. It's why Thror turned his back on Thranduil and broke his own word, though it wasn't quite as fatal for the elves as it was when Thranduil refused to help us."

Celia placed her torch in a sconce by the wall then sat down on the bed, waving a hand in front of her face when a cloud of dust billowed up from it. "But he's not still sick. Elena said he was nice enough to her, and he didn't actually mistreat any of them when they were in Mirkwood."

Kíli shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't actually met him, and to be honest, I don't really want to. Gold sickness or not, he was still indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent dwarves. And it's hard for me to overlook that. But, and this is something that gives me a little bit of hope, gold sickness doesn't have to be permanent. So Thranduil might not have it anymore. I don't know."

Celia nodded, an image of Thorin flinging away a golden crown and all that it represented flowing through her head. "I guess. The possibility of him being sick was never even covered back home. But I know that there are stories of other people who've gotten over it, although I don't know if there's a certain point that it goes to. Thror was still, um, sick when he died."

Kíli set his torch in a sconce on the wall and opened up the windows to shed more light, then sat down beside her, his face set in the serious expression it had been holding far more often of late than the easy-going one it used to hold. "Which is part of this whole mess as well."

"What do you mean?"

Kíli sighed, leaning forward to rest his head in his hands, rubbing his temples before sitting back up with a determined expression on his face. "The reason that gold sickness is most commonly reported among dwarves is because we're more prone to it, just by being dwarves. We have a natural possessive inclination, that, when exacerbated, can mutate into an obsession we usually call dragon sickness. Or, as it's otherwise known, even if it's not entirely accurate, gold sickness."

Celia frowned. "Do you mean it's not just gold that can affect you?" She closed her eyes. "Sorry. I mean, us?"

The dwarf prince nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's just the most known. Basically, we're already possessive. You know how protective we are of our languages, our children, and," he nodded at her, "our females. The dragon sickness just puts all of our focus on that one item, whatever it may be. For Thror, it was wealth, and the same for Thrain, which led to the Battle of Azanulbizar, and both of them being lost."

He swallowed hard. "Thorin saw all of that, and determined to not be like them. To not put gold before his people. And so he became protective of his people, determined to take care of us, and, eventually, to reclaim Erebor. He wants the Arkenstone because it is an heirloom of his grandfather and father, and because he can use it to rally other clans to our cause. Before, he hoped it would gather more to help us fight Smaug. Now, he wants to use it to bring them over to help us rebuild. It would also fully signify his triumph over Smaug."

Celia cocked her head at him. "So, it's not like they wouldn't accept him as king of Erebor or anything without it?"

Kíli immediately scoffed. "Where'd you get that idea? Thorin is a direct descendant of Durin the Deathless. He has more right to the throne than anyone. No, they all acknowledge him as rightful heir to the throne, they just won't do anything to help him either until he's got proof that Smaug is gone and he's actually reclaimed Erebor."

"Blame Peter Jackson," Celia said with a shrug, smirking at Kíli's confused look. "Brilliant man, but sometimes he had to stretch for a few of his ideas. Anyways. So basically Thorin, in trying not to become gold sick like his grandfather and father, became dragon sick anyways, just over his people instead of the gold until now?"

Kíli nodded. "In a way, it's still tied to protecting his people. He can use the Arkenstone and the gold to return us to full strength and get others to help us. But it seems like he's starting to forget that, in favor of the gold. I don't know why. I don't know."

He got up and started to pace nervously. "But like I said, that's not the only way. Dwalin's always been concerned with protecting and helping Thorin, who's his best friend. Hence why he's been following him around and obsessively been searching for the Arkenstone to help him."

"Well, that explains why Glóin's been affected, I guess," Celia murmured. "As a banker, he's probably always been at least a bit interested in it, and whatever it is in here that's making it worse for everyone else, has just made that worse for him -" She pulled up short and smacked herself in the forehead. "Of course! Duh! Kíli, there's been a dragon sitting on that gold for over a hundred years! That's got to have affected it in some way!"

Kíli didn't immediately respond, stopping to think over what she had just said, nodding slowly. "That would explain why none of this started happening until we reached the mountain." He laughed bitterly. "The desolation of Smaug, indeed."

He resumed his pacing, running his hands through his hair and making it even more tangled than normal. "Bilbo has no interest in gold, he's said that from the beginning, but even he admitted to feeling tempted when he first saw it."

"And Bombur hasn't seemed affected at all, but - _but_ , he's obsessed with food, even more so than usual," Celia pointed out. "Even when he's been helping us search for the Arkenstone, he's planning how he could use the gold to buy more food and cook different meals."

She sighed, leaning forward to rest her head in her hands. "So many people are getting sick, just maybe not over gold. I don't know how we're gonna help them all. Is there anything we can even do?" Kíli stumbled to a halt, staring at her. "What?"

Kíli shook his head, still staring at her, an uncertain look on his face. "Nothing. Or, just - dragon sickness can apply to people, too."

Celia frowned, not liking the look on his face. "What do you mean?"

Kíli took a deep breath. "We can get possessive, or obsessed with protecting an idea or person, as well. Not just a material, or something general, like with Thorin. Or, in your case..." He closed his eyes. "In your case, the Company. Possibly," he amended.

"What?" Celia just stared at him, flabbergasted. "You think I'm obsessed with the Company?"

He held up a hand, obviously sensing the denials about to come pouring out. "No. I'm not saying that. Not... yet. But think about it. This entire trip, you've been concerned with making sure we're safe, keeping us alive, making sure things go a certain way so that we're all right, trying to fix everyone who's possibly been affected by the gold. You're not obsessed, not yet, but can you at least admit that it's a possibility that it could happen?"

He looked her straight in the eyes, his tone imploring. "You know I'm not saying this to hurt you. I'm saying this because you're my best friend, and I want you to be aware of the possibility."

Celia had opened her mouth to immediately refute his claims, but shut it at his last sentence. He was her best friend, he was just concerned about her, and she knew that. And it was that that made her actually stop and think about what he'd suggested. She didn't think she had the dragon sickness; or not yet, at least, but taking a closer look at some of her thoughts and actions recently... revealed a few disconcerting truths.

Like the fact that she had been more concerned about them lately, always worrying about them. And granted, she had good reason to, but now that it had been drawn to her attention, it was hard to not notice everything and examine it through skewed lenses.

"I think you might be right," she admitted at last. "It's not dragon sickness, but that protectiveness you were talking about, that I've shown from the beginning... you're right. That could easily turn into obsession. Especially with- " She suddenly remembered who she was talking to and stuttered to a stop. "Sorry. Never mind. Spoilers."

Kíli smiled slightly, thought it was far shorter-lived than normal. "It's all right. I've grown used to your strangeness by now." He let the smile fall, grabbing the torch from the sconce with one hand and extending the other to help her up. "We should probably start heading back."

Celia nodded, grabbing the other torch and heading back out in the hallway with him. "If it could affect me and Bombur, when we don't care about gold, do you think all of us could get it?"

Kíli nodded after a moment's thought. "Yeah. It's different for us, because we don't have the need for more gold. We don't have the actual gold sickness like most of them do. Actually, it might not even affect you, since you spent most of your life as a human, then another year or two living with hobbits. None of that would exactly cultivate the dwarf instinct. But the rest of us are completely vulnerable."

He paused for a moment, deep in thought before continuing on. "Actually, they might be more vulnerable, as they're more likely to wind up with actual gold sickness, even if only one or two of them might have it right now. Fíli and I grew up with food to eat, and a roof over our heads. We never had to struggle for want of money like most of the others on the quest, and we've never been drawn to it. But I think I've already been affected by it, too."

Celia's head snapped up to look at him. "What?"

This was bad, this was very, very bad. If Kíli got gold sick, or even dragon sick, that could throw everything off depending on what he did. Not to mention, he was her best friend and the thought of facing the upcoming trials without his steady strength made her feel like the rug had been pulled out from underneath her.

Fortunately, Kíli didn't leave her hanging for long. "Not the gold sickness," he assured her quickly, noticing her worry. "But I can feel it. Something's not quite right in my head. There's a strong determination, and sense of 'mine' and everything seems a bit foggier than normal, but I can't tell what it is, or what I might be protective of until something triggers the protective or possessive instinct."

"Kíli, are we all going to be driven mad by this gold? Isn't there anything we can do?" Celia asked plaintively.

He touched her arm comfortingly. "We shouldn't lose all sense of rationality, and we're not spending all our time in the treasury, which I imagine is making things worse. And Gandalf should be here soon, and he'll be able to take care of it for us. Once that happens, it shouldn't last too long for any of us. Don't lose hope, Celia. It'll be all right. You'll see."

She smiled gratefully at him as they returned to the treasury. She still had some lingering fears that she might be affected by the gold sickness, and not be able to overcome it as Thorin eventually had, but Kíli had soothed most of her fears just by being there.

Thorin looked up when they came in, marking off an area they'd just searched. The caterpillars in her stomach exploded into nervous butterflies when his gaze alighted on them. There was no sign of the normal Thorin there.

"Good. You're here. Celia, I need to know. You're here to help us. Where is the Arkenstone?"

She blinked, not quite expecting that right off the bat. "I don't - I don't know. Why would I know where it's at?"

He scowled, his dark eyes glaring at her as he stepped closer to her. "Because your entire purpose for being here is to help. And if you want to help, tell me where the Arkenstone is. I know you know."

She backed up a step, holding her hands up placatingly. "Thorin, I swear to you, I don't know where the Arkenstone is. I know big events, like the dragon attack! Where or when or if the Arkenstone is found is not something that fits the bill!"

Thorin growled low under his breath, stepping closer once more.

And while he'd never actually posed a threat to her before, she couldn't help a flinch as she retreated again, Kíli deliberately stepping in between them.

"Uncle, she's done what she's supposed to. She warned us that we might wake up Smaug, and what he would do after that, and his weakness. None of us are in danger if we don't find the Arkenstone right away, why would she know where it's at? She's just trying to help like the rest of us!"

Thorin scoffed at his nephew, the black in his eyes nearly overwhelming the blue. "You think she doesn't know? She knows everything! She keeps it from me because she wants it for her own! Because she knows that once she tells me where it is, her power here is useless. That _she's_ useless. She has no further use to me, and that makes her worthless," he sneered at her.

Kíli's jaw snapped shut and when he spoke next, it was through gritted teeth. "Uncle, you don't mean that. She's helped us plenty, and she's still helping us now, even though she doesn't have to! She's a valuable member of this Company, just like everyone else who's come along to help us!"

Thorin shook his head, fury building in his face. "She's refused to tell me where the Arkenstone is! Or, if she doesn't know, like you say, then what is the point of her?" His icy gaze met Celia's wide-eyed gaze. "She's worthless! Worthless to me like everyone else! I need that Arkenstone!"

Kíli's hands both clenched into fists as he glared at his uncle, looking every bit like a Durin in his righteous indignation. "What you need is a firmer grip on reality before you end up like your father and grandfather!" he spat, whipping around and placing his arm around Celia's back. "We need to get out of here," he said in a low voice, his entire body tense and almost shaking with rage. She didn't argue, wanting to get out of there as much as he did.

They hurried out past a dumbstruck Dori, and she caught sight of Bilbo in the corner of her eye, glaring at an uncaring Thorin with every bit of Baggins contempt he had, and hefting a large jewel in his hand contemplatively.

Kíli waited until they were a few hallways away to explode, literally slamming his fist into a wooden door as soon as they stopped. Celia jumped as splinters flew from the force of his punch and he withdrew his hand, blood trickling out from various cuts on his knuckles.

"Kíli!" she gasped, her eyes as wide as saucers as he drew back for another punch.

He flinched as though she had hit him, eyes snapping up to her, panting slightly. Then he caught sight of his hand and he jerked again. His eyes flew up to hers, a look of disturbed realization and embarrassment in them covering, though not replacing, the burning anger that settled beneath it.

"Sorry, Celia," he offered sheepishly, forcing himself to calm down even as his cheeks flushed bright red. "But... I think I just figured out what I'm possessive about."

* * *

 **A/N: First things first, I'm changing things up from canon a fair bit here. I'm aware of that. It's on purpose. That being said, please don't message me saying that that's not how it went in the books/movies/whatever. (If you want to leave a sarcastic review saying that's not how it originally went, I would probably find it hilarious and leave a snarky reply of my own. But a serious review - while I'm glad that you like my story enough to not want me to accidentally stray from canon - will probably also get a snarky reply in a slightly different vein directing you to this author's note.**

 **Second of all, nothing of significance happened in this chapter. Nothing at all. So I don't think I need to leave much of an author's note at all. Why would I?**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, Blueelianor, SoraLover987142, Outofthisworldgal, ColdOnePaul, and PhoenixLordess for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Child of Dreams: Objection! If you throttle me I can't possibly come up with a way to save Elena or Fíli. Not that I have anyways. *Cough* I mean, what? Anyways... I rest my case. *Awkward slides away* ;D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yep. In more ways than one, as seen by the end of this chapter, Kíli has a lot to deal with. And so does Celia. Elena and Fíli, hmm... Idk when/if they'll show up, but we'll find out one way or another sooner or later. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Blueelianor: Trust me, so am I, lol. But see, it won't just be those two. It'll be gold-sick Thorin vs. snooty Elvenking vs. indignant Mama. And that's going down in the history books, lol. Hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **SoraLover987142: Thankfully, my brothers aren't scared of spiders at all, just a bit annoyed when I come to them for help. But they do it anyways. I ended up dying the bottom half of my hair a pink-purple affect. It took like five hours because they had to bleach my hair first, but I really liked the end result, so I guess it all worked out in the end, lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yeah, Kíli's been forced to come to the realization that that's not his Thorin. :( And yeah. Dwarves are sturdier for one, but the piece of rubble also partially landed on another piece, which kept it from landing completely on her leg - otherwise it would have been smashed. I make no promises on whether or not the Master lives. We'll find out for sure when we find out about Fíli and Elena. Or somewhere around there. (Someone has to tell the dwarves about them dying, right?) As for Alfrid... mwahaha, don't worry. He'll meet a suitably fitting end as well. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: Given the way this chapter ended, it just might be Kíli who knocks some sense into him. Guess we'll have to wait and see. ;) Glad to hear that you liked it though. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **PhoenixLordess: Aww, thanks! I'm always glad to hear that people like my OCs (and their relationships, lol) But marriage? Who said anything about marriage? Why on earth would you think that Kíli and Celia might ever get married? I've done nothing to imply that this might ever be an option. However... if you get people to read my story, and they cry, that's still new people reading my story lol. I'm fine with you passing on the sadness when *coughs* I mean, IF I kill of Celia or Kíli. Thanks for reviewing - I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying it so much - and I hope you enjoyed! :D**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	48. Chapter 48 - Excerpts From Erebor

~~ Celia ~~

 _Acting Chief Medical Officer's Log, Stardate: Unknown. Season: end of fall, beginning of winter. Reason for Log: Yet another attempt to keep me from going insane from worry. I really hope you're around to laugh at me for this, Elena. Borrowed some paper from Ori for this._

 _Day 1 after Smaug died, middle of the morning._

 _It all happened so fast. From me and Kíli disobeying Thorin's order - more on that later, as I have no doubt you'll want to hear about it - and sneaking in after them to being trapped underneath a bit of rubble, to watching Smaug lay waste to a distant Lake-town._

 _We couldn't see it, couldn't hear the screams of the people trapped in the burning buildings. Couldn't feel the sheer terror and confusion as an enraged dragon descended on them, determined to wipe out every last one of them. Not from our relative safety in Erebor._

 _We could guess, though. We'd just walked into a dragon's den and poked it with a stick, and barely escaped with our lives. Tip for the future: Playing tag is not nearly as fun when the dragon is 'it' and actively looking to roast you alive. Getting back to the point, though - we knew a little bit about their fear, but I think the dwarves who were there when Erebor fell, like Thorin and Balin, felt it the worst._

 _You see, the Company - we chose to face the dragon, foolhardy as it may seem (and certainly was, even if we miraculously didn't die.) But everyone in Erebor and Lake-town, they had no choice in the matter. They were innocently going about their lives until a dragon descended upon them to bring wrath and ruin and aren't I poetic? I'm rambling now, sorry. I think I might still be in shock after I came way too close to a freaking dragon that tried to burn all of us alive._

 _We did escape though. Everyone who entered Erebor has survived the night, if not uninjured. Kíli and I both scraped up our legs a fair bit, and will doubtless be limping for the next few days, but should regain full mobility before too long. Nori broke his nose, and I had to put it back into place, which he was not happy about. Ori's poor hands were so bruised he was wincing the whole time I was wrapping them, and he's got a few burns on his back that means he won't be doing any heavy lifting for a bit until they heal._

 _Glóin and Dwalin had a few minor burns, as did Bífur. Bombur and Balin seemed to be completely untouched, although they were wise enough to let me check them over without complaint. Maybe they saw my need to distract myself. They are kind, after all._

 _A_ _nd I know you're worried about Bilbo. Don't be. He has a hard head. He says he might have hit his head on the edge of a corner or pillar somewhere during their mad dash for a hiding spot, but he can't be sure. I examined him thoroughly, though, and apart from a minor headache, he really is fine._

xXx

 _Day 1 after Smaug died, afternoon._

 _And that leaves one more person. One person who refused to let me treat him, and the one person who perhaps was the most affected by Erebor._ _And I doubt anyone will ever read this except for you and me and perhaps our descendants, should we survive to have them, so I feel safe enough writing this here, as I don't think anyone's searching our bags for the Arkenstone just yet._

 _You get one chance to guess that it's Thorin. Because it's him. He wouldn't let me examine him, and frankly, I didn't want to push it. He's lost that faint air he used to have when speaking to us. You know, a bit less harsh, less threatening. It sounds awful, but I don't feel as safe as I used to with him. At least, not him now. He's changed, and not for the better._

 _I know it seems hard to believe, but when Smaug was attacking Lake-town -and we could see the flames from our spot on the lookout - Thorin was completely unconcerned, save for the fate of Smaug. Everyone else was horrified to some degree, but he didn't even seem bothered that his nephew was there, very possibly about to die. That you were there, and Óin and Bofur. People who had risked their lives for him on this quest, and he couldn't even look at Lake-town!_

 _He spent almost the entire time staring at Erebor._

xXx

 _Day 1 after Smaug died, late evening._

 _I'm still mad about that, by the way. But I find that it's lost in the crushing worry that I feel now that I'm no longer running for my life, and Smaug is dead, and everyone - except for a certain pigheaded dwarf king who I hope never reads this - has been treated as well as they can be in these conditions._

 _We spent the rest of the day going over supplies, getting treated, and celebrating. And enjoying the vast amounts of treasure now at our service. And now that we're all getting ready for bed - I'm writing this on my bedroll while the others are either sleeping or eating - I can't distract myself any longer._

 _I have no idea if you're dead or alive. I have no idea if you've been taken by the Master for whatever reason, and are trapped with no way of escape. I have no idea if you've been hurt and need someone's help before you can reach us, but everyone who could help you is either also wounded or worse, or here in Erebor with us, unknowing of your fates._

 _I just don't know if you're all right or not, and it's driving me insane. Kíli says worrying won't help anything, and will really only make things worse. That if what I've said is true and everyone survived the first time around, they'll probably be fine this time._

 _But I caught him staring out at the smoke rising from Lake-town's ruins more than once today, his face pinched tight with concern. I don't know that I've heard him joke once today, or even genuinely smile when he wasn't trying to cheer me up._

 _I'm so worried, El. Please be all right. I don't think Kíli or I could take it if we lost either of you._

 _That's not all, though. Thorin spent most of the day in what we've now dubbed the treasury, where all the gold is. Kíli didn't believe me at first, that he might be coming down with the gold sickness when I tried to warn him. But when we went in there, there he was, admiring all the gold and jewels instead of spending time with his nephew, and brothers-in-arms. He even told Kíli that the gold and wealth of Erebor was what we had been fighting for this whole time._

 _To an outsider, that might not seem like much. But to Kíli, who grew up with Thorin, watching him give selflessly to care for his family and people, who grew up hearing about how if they retook Erebor, they could help their people - it was awful. And all while seeming to not care about Fíli's fate at all. It went on quite a bit more like that - how this gold was the real treasure of Erebor, all they needed to do was find the Arkenstone, and everything would be perfect. Nothing about Lake-town, or its occupants._

 _Kíli made an excuse and left about two minutes in. I lasted another few minutes before I came up with something about checking on our supplies and escaping after him. I'm not sure, but sometimes I wonder if he blames me for this - for not warning Thorin that it might happen, for not warning him sooner. I don't know._

 _He was gone for several hours, actually. Somewhere in the halls of Erebor, I assume. But he was hurting, El, I could feel it. And I could see it in his face when he finally came back, although he didn't approach me then, either._

 _A_ _nd I don't want to sound like some clingy girlfriend - as if that would ever happen - but normally we spend almost all our time together. So I won't deny it felt weird, and a little bit painful, but I understood. I was busy anyways, helping Bombur cook._

 _It didn't last though. He's actually half asleep right now, next to me like he has been for the past few weeks. Apparently he needed time to process; and then the dork thought I would actually be upset that he didn't believe me right away._

 _I swear, he's too innocent for this world sometimes._

 _But so are you. Please be all right. I'm trying to be positive, but I can tell it's going to get really awkward if I start crying in a room full of warriors. And we don't want to make them awkward, so you better be nice and come here as soon as possible. Feel free to take a taxi. Or an eagle, if they're willing. I need your comfort, and your advice._

 _I don't think Thorin is the only one who's gold sick._

xXx

 _Day 2 after Smaug died. Stardate still unknown, noonish. Maybe._

 _Still no sign of anyone from Lake-town. I'm trying hard to stay positive, especially since I know no one will show up until tomorrow at the earliest, but it's hard. It's really hard. Thorin has most of us searching in the treasury for any sign of the Arkenstone, although at least he lets us take a break every now and again. The rest were shoring up the outer wall that was broken by Smaug, and we alternated tasks every so often._

 _The worst is when we find the bodies. Without going too much into detail, we've come across the bodies of guards, or people trying to escape only to be trapped in a room without food or exit. We've been putting them in a room set aside for it, but so many of them are so small..._

 _Kíli's made sure to stick by me on tasks, and we've even explored Erebor a bit during some of our breaks. It's a nice break from tunneling through endless piles of gold and jewels, although Glóin seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps a bit more than is healthy. Dwalin also works tirelessly and without complaint. It's weird. He doesn't exactly seem gold obsessed, but... something is off. I don't know what, though._

 _Kíli's been oddly quiet as well, and his relationship with Thorin is, at least temporarily, strained. Thorin keeps offering him different pieces of gold and jewelry, and he wants nothing to do with them. I think he sees them as something that's taking his uncle away from him. Thorin, on the other hand, gets upset that Kíli is rejecting his heritage or something like that. I don't know. It's just a vicious cycle that keeps getting worse._

 _Got to go, our break is apparently up, and we need to start searching again. If I never see a gold coin again, it will be too soon._

xXx

 _Day 2 after Smaug died, evening._

 _I'm scared, El._

 _Do you know what it's like to question your sanity? To wonder if you're slowly losing your mind, but you don't even realize it?_

 _Because I do._

 _Apparently, as dwarves, we're prone to possessiveness. Add in some gold formerly owned by a dragon, and you have a nice recipe for dragon sickness - general obsession, apparently, not just about gold._

 _Like Bombur. There's a high chance he might be obsessed with food. Shocker, right? It's not so funny when you think that he might be losing everything that makes him the wonderful dwarf he is in his literal obsession with food._

 _And apparently that extends to people as well. Kíli says that given how much I've tried to keep the Company safe, and now that I'm around this blasted gold almost all the time, it could easily slip into some form of obsession._

 _So now I'm questioning everything I think, say, or do. Am I genuinely concerned for their health, or am I just determined to protect something I see as mine? Are my decisions actually thought out? What's influencing my decisions? Are my morals the same? Would I be willing to hurt someone to keep my friends safe? To keep Kíli safe?_

 _I'm scared to actually answer these questions. What if the answers are yes? Or perhaps worse, what if some of the answers are no? And I'm not the only one._

 _I just finished bandaging Kíli's hand after he literally punched a hand into a door because Thorin insulted my worth after not telling him where the Arkenstone is. (Well, it was a bit worse than that, but you get the idea.) Apparently his protective instinct of me has been heightened by the gold to a near possessive degree._

 _I can already hear your comments, so I'm just going to stop you there. I don't want this. Neither does Kíli._ _I want it to be real if it happens, not because some stupid gold is making him possessive of me._ _It sounds sweet in theory, having someone want to protect you. And it is - that's what Kíli has been for me practically this entire quest._

 _But this, this is entirely different. According to him, when Thorin 'verbally attacked me' he felt this overwhelming rage and burning desire to protect what is his. What belongs to him. Hence punching the door in lieu of his uncle._

 _But I'm not a possession to be owned, and he both knows and agrees with that. I'm not his. (Shut up Elena.) He hates that that's what his instincts are telling him, that his first reaction was violence against family because of something his clearly sick uncle said._

 _Neither of us are sure what to do. Who do we go to? Bilbo has no experience with gold sickness. Gandalf's not here. Thorin clearly can't help us, and neither of us know if we can trust Balin with this news._

 _I wish you were here, Elena, to tease me about this and tell me it's all gonna be all right. Please be safe._

 _Gold-sick by now: Thorin, Glóin, possibly Nori._

 _Dragon-sickness: Dwalin, Bombur, Kíli, me?_

xXx

 _Day 3 after Smaug died. Evening._

 _You didn't show up again today. No sign of anything approaching us, friendly or otherwise. Thorin continues to deteriorate. Ori is showing signs of gold sickness as well. Kíli's tired from trying to keep an eye on Thorin - though he hasn't spoken to him since last night - and on me at the same time._

 _He said it feels like something's clogging his mind, though, pushing everything else off to the side except for me. It might be flattering, if I didn't know what it meant, and I wasn't worried because I felt the same._

 _I'm so tired. Thorin's been giving us less breaks, and shorter. We're either shoving rocks into place on the wall, or bent over, digging through gold and jewels. The only entertainment came from Bilbo._

 _Is it bad to say that I really enjoyed seeing my future monarch get smacked in the forehead with a gold coin? And then terrorized by a formerly-plump middle-aged hobbit who barely came up to his shoulder - if that - and who promised to drop-kick him into the nearest chasm if he ever spoke to me - or you, when, not if, you come back - like that again._

 _Kíli certainly did. And then felt bad about actually enjoying it, because he could tell his emotions were being influenced by the stupid dragon sickness. But he still enjoyed it, and he told me later that he actually agreed with Bilbo's words, if not his deeds._

 _'Gold sickness or not, that's completely unacceptable, especially from a king,' he said adamantly._

 _Except now he's looking at me funny because I'm laughing at a piece of paper. He won't interfere, though. Something about liking me genuinely laughing. I dunno. I'm too tired to actually figure out what's going on. Or what he means, or whatever. I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore._

 _Time for bed. Hope to see you tomorrow. You don't have to be fashionably late this time, okay?_

 _Gold-sick: Thorin, Glóin, Nori, Ori._

 _Dragon-sick: Same. I think. I don't know._

xXx

 _Day 4 since Smaug died. Evening._

 _Where are you, Elena? It takes somewhere around 2 1/2 - 3 days to get here. It's been 4. Bilbo, Kíli and I have been trying to tell ourselves that you guys just stayed in Lake-town to help the survivors, but it's hard to keep holding onto hope with each passing day._

 _It doesn't help that we're all so tired. We've been working more and more on finding the Arkenstone, because Thorin needs that to get help from the other tribes, apparently. But it's like it's become the focal point of his obsession._

 _I'm so tired. I'm still worried about you, and Fíli, and Óin, and Bofur. But I no longer have the energy to pace frantically while I pull out my hair. It's not like I have the time anymore either._

 _The more gold we search, the more bodies we find. The first room we picked to place them in is full. So is the second room. Signs of Smaug are everywhere. Clawed walls. Scorch marks. Destroyed doors and pillars. And bodies. So many bodies._

 _I don't know if Kíli was right about me possibly becoming obsessed with protecting the Company. I don't want them to die or anything, obviously. But I think the only thing I'm in danger of becoming possessive about is sleep. Because I'm so tired that I hardly even care any more, but every time I try to sleep, I wake up shortly after from nightmares. I feel so empty inside, with only vague surface emotions. Like worry for you guys, or Kíli and Bilbo._

 _They're worried about me, too. Neither of them are near as tired as I am, though Kíli admits to being more exhausted than he should be. Maybe it's from stressing out so much about keeping our apparently tenuous hold on our sanity. Maybe our matching leg wounds both got infected. Maybe we all just really need a nap. Maybe it's all three._

 _Where are you, Elena? The sickness takes more of us everyday, like the plague it practically is. Maybe you guys shouldn't come here, and should just camp outside the gates until Gandalf gets here and cleans it up. Still no sign of the Arkenstone. Lots of other shiny white jewels, though._

 _Gold-sick: Thorin, Glóin, Nori, Ori_

 _Dragon-sick: Dwalin, Bombur, Kíli, possibly Dori - excessive tidiness and being extremely fastidious with the gold. Me?_

 _Normal as it gets: Balin, Bilbo, Bífur? Hard to say what's exactly normal for him. He isn't hoarding gold, though, so I think he's all right for now._

xXx

 _Day 5 after Smaug died. noon._

 _Finally got an extended break for lunch. Long enough to eat and write a bit, not enough to explore, which I think was Thorin's point. He wants Kíli to stop ignoring him, while Kíli seems perfectly content with not interacting with his uncle for the foreseeable future. He goes out of his way to avoid being in the same room as him. If they're both in the treasury, he'll be as far away as possible._

 _How did things get this bad so quickly?_

 _Still no sign of Elena, Fíli, Óin, or Bofur. No sign of life from Lake-town at all, as a matter of fact._

 _Still more bodies._

 _I'm starting to wonder if this isn't going to be a letter to throw at my sister when she shows up after all. Maybe it'll just be like those journals people find hundreds of years later, detailing people's last days. I wonder if archaeologists hundreds of years in the future will find this, and wonder what on earth is going on. They'll probably think it describing an outbreak of plague, or something like that. People locked up in quarantine to protect everyone else from getting sick._

 _What they might not know is that they're probably right._

 _It's hard to stay positive when you're so tired you can hardly see straight. To make matters worse, I haven't been sleeping well when I do get the chance to rest. The days are bad enough, but the nightmares are worse. What do you do when your only respite from the day is worse than the day itself?_

 _Bilbo just called. Someone's coming._

* * *

 **A/N: Friendly reminder that while it's good, great even, to be protective of your friends/family/loved ones, a possessive relationship is not a healthy relationship. Nor is it sweet, loving, or good. If you're in a relationship where you're not equals, where someone treats you as less than a person, either change the terms of the relationship or get out. It's not healthy or safe.**

 **So, in case this wasn't made clear earlier, Celia's writing a letter/journal of sorts to Elena while she's gone, hoping that eventually she'll be able to read it. (And I'll be going back to the regular format/chapter/whatever it's called - I can't grammar today - next week)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to PhoenixLordess, Blue Swords, Lady Silverstar2, Tibblets, Outofthisworldgal, Child of Dreams, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **PhoenixLordess: Yay! I'm glad you like it, lol. Not much happened ship-wise this chapter, but I promise we're getting there. ;)**_

 _ **Blue swords: I'm really glad to hear that! I thought the dragon sickness might help explain a few things, and make for an interesting plotline to explore, so I'm glad to hear that you liked it! And don't worry about your English - I thought it was very good. Probably better than mine half the time, lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: You were right, and I tried to make it sweet in a not so good way, lol. Like, obviously it's not good that it happens, but it can be used for good (aka fluff). Celia just doesn't see that yet. Trust me when I say that Elena will. ;) No knocking down this chapter (Well, Bilbo threw a coin at him. Does that count?) But it's coming. mwahaha. There's more at stake here, so Kíli is far more likely to stand up to his uncle this time around. No comment as to Elena and Fíli yet, unfortunately. :/ Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **Tibblets: Hahaha, trust me when I say she's coming, and thoroughly preparing to kick some butts! Namely, two certain kings who need it. (And if you think that's gonna be bad, just wait until she teams up with Dis, Thorin's sister). As for the Master... I think you'll find his potential end fitting, when it's explained. And I'm glad you find it entertaining! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it! :D**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Don't feel bad - most of the 'dragon sickness' that I used last chapter was the product of my weird mind that works - or doesn't work - in strange ways. And Kíli's finally figured it out, but the kicker ? They both just blame it on the gold/dragon sickness. But don't worry. Someone's coming along to knock some sense into them. (It's totally the Master. The Master is the reason they all get together s/) Don't worry, though. Cuteness to come. Promise! :) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: See, this is why we can't have nice things. I be nice to Kíli and don't shoot him with a Morgul arrow, and you go and steal it! Besides, there's no guarantee that Elena and Fíli are dead... just a very high chance of it. And Celia and Kíli are totally alive! (Also, if I die, you never find out how Elena and Fíli really died *coughs* I mean, escaped. Escaped. Totally. It's what I meant all along.) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed this cheer-filled chapter that brought you no closer to finding out if Elena and Fíli were alive. ;D**_

 _ **E: No worries. I know firsthand how crazy RL can be. Here's to hoping it gets better! As for a HEA... I think I might be able to work something out. ;) Remember, I think I promised a few chapters ago that anyone who survives the BOFA will get a HEA. Like, sickeningly sweet. So sweet that you'll be begging for the sequel, where everything goes horribly wrong. I mean... what? Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	49. Chapter 49 - Home for the Holidays

**Happy Fourth of July, everybody!**

Laurel watched the fireworks explode in the sky into a burst of red, white, and blue with an unmoving expression. She'd been startled by them the first time she'd seen them when she ended up in America several decades ago - she'd lost track somewhere during what was apparently the second world war.

But now, she expected them, and with what remained of her sensitive hearing, she could even hear them soaring through the air before they exploded. Elena and Celia had always loved the fireworks, dragging her out to see them each year until she grew to enjoy them as much as her daughters.

They brought her no joy this time. Not when she stood at the edge of the crowd, hidden by the drooping branches of a weeping willow as the city officials shot off fireworks across the river and lit up the night sky. Not when her daughters weren't there with her to drag her out to the middle of the crowd to find the best spot. Not when every attempt to find them again had failed, leaving her once again alone in a world that was not her own.

Not when her daughters grew closer to death with every step they took in her dreams at night.

She'd been so eager to try and find them again, she'd never considered that the gate might still be closed to her, that she wasn't yet meant to cross over. That there was still something - and it better be darn near crucial to saving the world, or she was going to be ticked that she'd been separated from her children for so long - that she needed to do, or to learn before she could leave.

Night brought her no respite from her struggles, only serving to increase her fears. Gone were the peaceful dreams of nights at the hobbit's - Bilbo Baggins - or in Rivendell. In their place were dreams of what she could only hope were a possible future, as opposed to a certain past.

She dreamed of a pale orc with a claw for a hand throwing Elena into a ravine, of the blond dwarf prince falling after her, blood trailing from the mortal wound in his back. Of Celia, standing defenseless before the same orc, her bow falling from nerveless fingers as he descended on her, gutting her. Of the dragon, flaming Elena as she was trapped between him and a madman, or tearing down walls in his efforts to reach Celia.

Not to mention the Master. If he was still alive when - not if, she refused to believe if - she got back, it wouldn't be for long. She had no idea why Thranduil still entertained an alliance with the man, he was positively disgusting. And demeaning. And evil. And she would put an arrow - or seven - in him if she got the chance.

It wasn't all bad, though, not completely. She had to admit that the night she dreamed of Celia holding a blue eyed babe and sitting on the lap of the dark haired prince, she squealed a little when she woke up. Grandbabies had featured prominently on her mind for the rest of the day, and she couldn't get the image out of her head until she managed to paint it and lock away the page in the little journal she'd started keeping in an attempt to keep things straight in her head.

A particularly loud explosion brought her mind back to the present as a firework screeched into the sky and burst into a shower of color. She would have just ignored it and left, but she couldn't do that to her daughters. Not to their memory.

So she stayed, watching the rest of the show with a solemn expression, and applauding politely when it was finished with the rest of the crowd. She stayed through the reading of the Declaration of Independence - and wouldn't that have been an interesting concept, back home! - before returning to the same empty house she'd inhabited since her daughters had left. It wasn't a home anymore, not really.

She shut the door behind her with a click, heading up to her room, wanting to just go to bed. She flopped onto the bed face-first, only to have to wiggle around as something sharp dug into her stomach. Turning around, only to wince as some of her hair got caught underneath her back, she managed to dig out the offending object. She frowned when she saw the title: Return of the King.

It was the last book in the trilogy that she had eventually decided to read. She'd just finished it this morning, and tossed it on her pillow. So... how did it end up in the middle of the bed? She shook her head, dismissing the notion as forgetting where it had landed, and tossed the book towards the end table.

It landed on the floor, facing the door, and tumbled a few inches closer before falling still.

Now she was confused. Rolling out of her bed, she picked up the book and tossed it back towards her bed, only to have it fall back to the floor and roll towards the door once more. She bent down to pick it up to check for signs of tampering, lifting a hand to brush the hair out of her face.

Except her hair hadn't fallen in her face. It had literally lifted away from her body and was straining towards the door. And now that she had become alert, she became aware of a tugging sensation in her stomach, leading towards the door. She instantly dropped the book again, eyes wide as she experimentally stepped closer to the door, feeling the tugging sensation increase in response.

Hardly daring to breathe, her heart pounding in excitement, she darted towards her closet and tugged off her regular clothes, pulling on her regal garments. Slinging her bow and quiver over her shoulder and strapping on her daggers, she grabbed her travel bag she'd been keeping just in case for just such an occasion, and practically sprinted down the stairs.

The air was sucked from her lungs as soon as she'd stepped outside, the tugging sensation almost dragging her down the driveway and towards the path out of town to the forest. Gasping for breath, she locked the doors and tried to stay still as she hid the key and turned to the road.

Almost giddy with excitement, she eagerly followed the feeling, retracing the steps Celia and Elena had taken almost seven months earlier. The feeling only increased the closer she got to their old campsite until she was practically running, her quiver slapping against her back as she moved.

She burst into the campsite and nearly tripped over a log, but kept going past the river where she had found Elena's ripped sketchbook. It was somewhere in the forest, she could feel it. It was calling to her, trying to bring her to it.

A sudden brush of wind rushed past her, tangling her hair and nearly sending her into a tree before the tugging sensation suddenly disappeared, and her only hope of direction with it.

Suddenly aimless, she wandered around the dark forest with determination, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, her bow at the ready. Even with all her caution, though, it was only the slightest whisper of wind in a place it shouldn't have been that warned her, and she spun around, arrow already drawn.

Only to find another aimed at her, before the face behind the bow gasped, releasing their hold and dropping to the ground in a bow.

"Queen Aredhel! You have returned to us!"

* * *

 **A/N: So, I apologize for the shortness of this "intermission", I guess. The business and plans associated with the holiday have really thrown me for a loop, and rather than not post with no warning (because I completely forgot about it, go figure), I decided to post a brief bit with Laurel/Aredhel instead.**

 **I hope all my fellow Americans have a wonderful Independence Day. And to everyone else... may you have a great Wednesday, I guess. :D**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, PhoenixLordess, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Child of Dreams: Oh, come on! You can't use my own characters against me! And besides, Laurel's gonna be too busy dealing with Thranduil and Thorin to focus on me and Elena's suspiciously long absence. :P ;D Good luck with that... You're gonna have to wait at least another week to find out what happens. Too bad, so sad. Much sorrow. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! ;D**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Elena will probably think her sister is both. No reunion this chapter, due to holidays, but it's coming! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yeah, there will be several people who take issue with goldsick!Thorin before this is through... :D Reunion has been added to the wish list, and is being duly considered. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **PhoenixLordess: I'm glad you like the little deviations I'm making. :D Most of the company got gold-sick in the book, but not in this way, and hardly any of them got it in the movies, but I thought it kind of made sense with the possessive nature of the dwarves. Glad you think it fits! (And I love your ship names, lol - they're actually ones I'd come up with, too). OTP fluff should be coming soon. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **E: Yeah, Celia's a bit of a nerd (Just like me #coincidence lol) I'm glad to hear that you were affected by the chapter, even if it was just chills. I was trying to go for a little bit of a desperate/eerie feel for it, so it looks like I got at least part of it right. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena, Celia, and Laurel.**


	50. Chapter 50 - Trouble in Paradise

~~ Elena ~~

"Now, remember. There's no need to bring up what happened."

"Bring up what?"

"You know, the thing."

"Yeah, cause that's so descriptive."

"Shut up, Fíli. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Ohhh, you were talking about the part where you -"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about, and that's what I'm referring to when I say don't bring it up!"

"You were the one who brought it up in the first place! I didn't even remember until you reminded me."

"Liar. You expect me to believe that you actually forgot about what happened?"

"... Fair point. No, I did not. And yes, I am still mad about it."

"This again? It worked, didn't it?"

"And it almost cost your life!"

"That's not the issue here -"

"How is that anything _but_ the issue? You threw yourself in front of a dragon!"

"Because I thought you and Celia were dead, along with possibly Óin and Bofur, and it seemed like the only way to get its attention!"

"What? What does that have to do with anything? How would me being dead relate to you trying to feed yourself to a dragon?"

A heavy hand was clasped on Fíli's shoulder, startling both him and Elena from their argument. "Lad, if ya can't come up with a possible reason for that, then I just pray that Thorin's still alive when we reach the mountain. Heaven knows we need all the brains we can get on the throne."

Fíli twisted around the stare at the miner, his annoyed expression changing to one of curiosity. "What? What do you mean?"

"He means that you're dense, lad," Óin interrupted, sounding annoyed. "I'll explain when you're older." Elena opened her mouth to agree, and he swung on her with a speed that belied his age. "And not a word from you either, lassie! Now, Bofur and I have been patient enough for the last two and a half days, waiting for you two knuckleheads to clear the air between you. And for all that I've prayed for silence on this quest, I don't want it coming from you two, and I don't want you breaking it either. Not like this! You need to talk it out properly, like the responsible adults you claim to be."

Elena shoved her hair out of her face impatiently and turned back to the path. "Whatever. It's not my fault Fíli's mad at me for trying to help. Would have thought he'd be _glad_ I was alive in the end, like I was for him."

"I was!" Fíli exclaimed angrily, blue eyes stormy. "But then it was overwhelmed by the thought of how stupid it was! You could have been killed!"

"We all could have been killed!" Elena retorted, glaring at him. "Multiple times on this quest, we've almost died. And what I did meant that Bard was able to kill the dragon. I'm not going to apologize for that!"

"But there was a high chance you could have been killed for nothing!" Fíli seethed, not even bothering to look at her. "You had no idea whether or not it would have worked, and you almost died for an idea."

"An idea that worked! I took that chance because the benefits outweighed the possible risks! If Smaug died, then that meant less people who died, and maybe even a chance to find you guys. Maybe he would have killed you if he had survived. I will _always_ take that chance if it means your lives might be saved!"

"I never asked you to take that chance!"

"That's the thing about caring about other people, Fíli. You don't have to ask," Elena said quietly.

Fíli's jaw clenched, but he didn't say anything, just kept walking the path with his eyes fixed ahead of him. Finally he shook his head and muttered, "I'm going to scout the trail ahead," and stalked ahead of the group.

Elena watched him go, much of her anger falling away as his form grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Instead, it was replaced by a heavy feeling of sadness. She swallowed hard, blinking back tears but refusing to let go of that last bit of anger.

She had been willing to take the chance, and firmly believed she had been right to do so... She just hadn't known one of the risks would be an ongoing argument with Fíli over something so small. She just didn't get why he was making such a big deal about it.

"Cheer up, lass. He doesn't hate ya, if that's what you're worried about," Bofur encouraged her. "I'd say it's more like the opposite. He's worried about ya."

Elena scoffed. "I wasn't worried. He ignored me for two days, Bofur. I wouldn't exactly call that concern."

Bofur raised an eyebrow at her. "And he was the only one doin' any ignoring, right?" He nodded at the ensuing silence. "That's what I thought. It takes two to dance, and it takes two to fight. He may have started it, but you're darn well committed to finishing it."

"That's because I'm in the right!"

"Are you?"

Elena spluttered. "Wha - well, of course I am! I risked my life trying to save others! In addition to the fact that it worked, and I did save others, it's also my own life to risk! He has no say in that!"

Bofur nodded sagely. "Well, of course not. It's not like he means anything to ya, or you to him. He has no right to be concerned about ya risking your life. He's just trying to exert his authority as a prince and future king over ya. Good on ya for not lettin' him. He needs to know he can't just do that. Selfish, he is."

Elena stumbled in her stride, turning to glare at the hatted dwarf. "Bofur! How could you say that about him? He's not just a prince, he's my friend! My best friend! He's not trying to exert his authority, he's never done that! He's just - he's just..." Her walk slowed to a stop as her eyes widened and a deep bush spread across her face. "Oh."

"'Oh,' what?" Bofur asked, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Are you starting to get it, now?"

Elena averted her eyes. "Shut up, Bofur."

"Well, that's not very nice of ya to say, and here I thought we were starting to connect."

"All right, all right, yes, I get your point," she grumbled, resuming her previous pace up towards the mountain. "He's my best friend, he's allowed to be worried about me."

"And?" Bofur asked expectantly.

"And what?"

"And how about the fact that he was worried about ya because ya almost died, and it seemed like ya were making light of the fact that ya almost died?"

"I wasn't making light of it!" Elena protested immediately. "Believe me when I say I still get nightmares about what happened. I have _no_ illusions about how close I was to dying that night."

"I know," Bofur nodded somberly. "We can tell. It's nothing to be ashamed of, lass," he added hastily when her panicked eyes flew to his. "We all get night terrors from the things we've seen. It's unpleasant, but not something to be ashamed of. It's just a sign that ya faced something terrible and survived despite its best efforts."

"I guess," Elena muttered, dropping her eyes again. "It's just... something that's also personal, you know? It's a little awkward knowing that you've all been aware of them since before we left Lake-town."

Bofur nodded, and they walked in companionable silence for several minutes before he broke it again.

"He blames himself, you know."

Elena frowned, not quite sure what the miner was getting at. "What do you mean? Who?"

"Fíli does."

"I don't understand," Elena admitted.

"Fíli blames himself for your nightmares."

"What? That's ridiculous! He wasn't even there, how could it be his fault?"

"Exactly. He wasn't there."

Elena shook her head. "I'm still not sure I'm following along, Bofur. How does Fíli not almost dying with me equate to him being at fault for the products of my twisted brain?"

Bofur rubbed his forehead with a low moan. "You and Fíli are meant for each other. Erebor is doomed," he muttered. "Think about what you just said," he continued in a louder voice. "Fíli is your best friend. He's looked out for you since the beginning. You almost died in the Misty Mountains, and he blamed himself for that. Now in Lake-town, where he was entrusted with your care by your sister, you were kidnapped by the Master. You had to run for your lives, and you almost got killed by both the Master and the dragon. And Fíli wasn't around to help you with that."

"But, but that wasn't his fault!" Elena protested. "He got kidnapped by the Master too, and he nearly drowned, and then he got crushed by a beam from a falling house! None of that was his fault! I was actually the one who had to leave him behind." She looked away guiltily, rubbing her left arm gingerly. "If anything, this was all my fault."

"You both deserve each other," Bofur told her bluntly with an exasperated expression. "I swear, you're carved from the same stone. See, you blame yourself for him and anyone else getting hurt, and he blames himself for your nightmares and your arm."

Elena curled her good hand around her other arm protectively. "It's not his fault it happened."

"No," Bofur agreed easily. "But he still blames himself for it. He wasn't there when you faced Smaug, and he can't help you with your nightmares either. To him, that means he failed at keeping you safe. Therefore, logically, it's his fault that you're suffering. And because he's related to Thorin, and has no idea how to translate his emotions into words, his worry is coming out as anger. You're the person his feelings are strongest for, and thus you're the easiest target."

Elena blinked. "That's really stupid, and yet at the same time, I totally see where he's coming from. Óin, you have the most experience with royalty. Is it all right to tell a prince that he's an idiot?"

The older healer snorted. "All right? I'd say it's healthy. Necessary, even, perhaps, from time to time. Keeps 'em humble if someone they know and trust reminds them that they can be stupid too. Bofur's right, though. The lad blames himself. But he doesn't know how to express that, so it comes out as anger. He did the exact same thing when Kíli fell out of a tree several decades ago. Growled something fierce, and wouldn't talk to him for almost a week. Poor Kíli was going mad with worry and frustration."

"What happened?" Elena asked curiously. "Obviously they got better, they're really close now."

Óin nodded. "Aye. Dis had to explain it to him. Kíli picked at it until Fíli snapped, they wrestled on the floor, and Kíli sat on him until he stopped fighting. He'd worked off most of his aggression by then, and it was pretty much over."

"Uh... that's great and all, but I don't think that's gonna work for us," Elena said blankly. "Everything else aside, he's got far more training and experience than I do, and he wouldn't even have to sit on me. He could just hold me down. Probably with one hand."

Óin chuckled. "He probably could. I'm not recommending that, though. I suggest something that's perhaps both easier and harder."

"Like what?"

"Talk to him," the dwarf said bluntly. "Run up ahead to him and talk it out before we reach Erebor, and you two worry Kíli and Celia with your nonsense. Not to mention the rest of us."

Elena flushed, looking up at the mountain looming over them. They'd been traveling for almost three days now, so she figured they only had a few hours left before they reached it. "You're right. I should have done this a few days ago, shouldn't I?"

"No comment," Bofur smirked.

Elena rolled her eyes at him. "All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going." She started to jog ahead of the group towards Fíli's distant figure, but stopped when Óin called her name.

"Elena. We told you what he's likely feeling. Now you need to tell him how you're feeling. Talk it out."

She nodded, offering her thanks before turning and jogging up the hill once more, quickly leaving them behind her. After a few minutes of jogging, she managed to catch up Fíli, yelling his name.

He swung around, hand falling to his sword before relaxing once he realized it was just her, and there was no threat. He kept his face in a neutral position, however, and kept his eyes focused on sweeping the terrain ahead of them.

"Is something wrong, Elena?" he asked, voice politely cool and missing all the warmth it usually carried when he spoke to her.

She bit her lip, wrestling with indecision before finally just spitting it out. "Yeah. Not with the group - they're both fine, it's just... Something's wrong with us, Fíli! We're fighting, and we've never fought before, not like this, and I hate it! And I know you don't like it either!"

Fíli released a pent up sigh but still didn't look at her. "No. I don't."

"I'm sorry, okay? I never wanted to hurt you, but somehow you ended getting hurt from this anyways, and it's all my fault, and I'm sorry I hurt you!" She finally burst out.

Now he looked at her - unfortunately, it was only to look at her as though she was insane, as if she had just declared that she was going to walk into Mordor. "What?"

She took a deep breath and composed herself. "I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize this. But I hurt you, even if it was unintentional, with what happened at Lake-town, and then I just blew you off about it. And that's on me. So I apologize, and I hope you can forgive me."

She couldn't keep up the eye contact after that, and dropped them back to the ground, waiting for what seemed like forever for him to respond. When he did, he muttered something in Khuzdul before turning to face her, gently grasping her arm to stop her and turn her to face him, looking her in the eyes.

"Of course I forgive you. It wasn't your fault either, Elena. I overreacted, and I took out all my worries and anger on you, and that's not okay. I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I hope you can forgive me, as well."

Elena gave him a small smile. "Course I do. You were upset cause you were worried, and I should have seen that. I've done the same thing before, and so has Celia, and my mom. It's completely understandable."

"That doesn't make it okay, though," Fíli reminded her, blue eyes never leaving hers.

"No," she admitted. "But it does make it forgivable. You're my best friend. Life's too short to be wasted on arguing. So... hug?" She spread her arms out wide and looked up at him with her best pleading expression.

His face finally broke free from the stern expression it had been set in for the past few days into a bright smile that lightened his eyes as he chuckled and swept her into a tight hug. "You never have to ask, Elena. I'm sorry that you feel you had to now," he whispered, burying his face in her hair while she buried her head in his neck.

"I haven't been doing enough asking, lately," she murmured, reluctantly releasing him and stepping back. "So I'm sorry for that, too."

Fíli smiled, glancing back the way they had come at the small figures of Óin and Bofur in the distance. "We should probably wait for them to catch up. We're almost to the mountain. And who knows what we'll find when we get there." He cast her a questioning look.

Elena shrugged. "Sorry. Your guess is as good as mine right now. I'm not even sure how we're gonna get in. Unless maybe they've got someone keeping watch? I don't know."

Fíli nodded in acceptance. They waited in companionable silence for a minute before he spoke up again. "Elena? Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He waited until she nodded to continue. "I just... I just realized that I never really got to know what actually happened with Smaug. I made a lot of assumptions, but, and I mean this in a purely curious way, what were you thinking? Did you really think you could draw his attention, and that it would help?"

Elena shrugged, nudging a rock with her foot. "I made a few unfair assumptions myself. It was pretty basic, what actually happened, though. I mean, you and Celia are like ninety percent of my impulse control. I thought both of you were dead, I was mad, and wanted to hurt him, whatever it took. I wasn't trying to get eaten. I just wanted to stop him and the only way to do that was to line him up so that Bard could get a clear shot at him."

Fíli nodded. "I don't remember much after that beam fell on me. But I do remember seeing him avoiding the tower that had the wind lance on it. That, and something about how that was bad, because we needed it to shoot him, but there was no way Bard would have been able to line up a good shot. What you did, acting as a distraction and getting him into range was perhaps one of the only things you could have done. I just wish you hadn't had to risk your life to do it."

Elena shuddered, remembering flashing teeth and searing heat. "Same. I mean, I'm glad it turned out well this time, but that is something that I never, ever want to have to do again. And I give you full permission to call me stupid if I ever suggest something like that again. No more dragons for me!"

Fíli raised his eyebrows. "You'll get no argument from me. I got closer than I wanted to, and I don't know that I ever actually got to see him, just where he'd been and what he'd done. Vague shapes and shadows disappearing in a flicker of flame. To be honest, though, I was kind of having trouble seeing at that point, so..."

"So basically we're both idiots who have issues with dragons?"

Fíli nodded. "Sounds about right. Oh, and the elves. We also have issues with the elves."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, all! Hope you all had a great Fourth of July!**

 **I got a bit of bad news for you. :P Due to the craziness of this summer (where I work, it's insane) I'm going to have to shorten my updates for the month of July, and possibly part of August.**

 **I'll still be updating (probably very late) every Tuesday night, but the chapters themselves will be more between 3-4000 words, as opposed to the usual 4-5000 that I strive for. Hope that's okay with everyone, I wish I could go back to the longer chapters, but I quite honestly can't handle that right now. :/**

 **And just in case it wasn't clear (I know it was a bit confuddled in the chapter): Elena and Fíli had a fight regarding what went down in Lake-town. Basically, w/o spoiling/repeating too much, she risked her life to help possibly defeat Smaug, and that upset Fíli. At the time of this chapter, they weren't really on speaking terms due to them both being stubborn idiots, just the occasional bickering. I think this might be what's referred to as angst with a happy ending. :/**

 **Next chapter will probably be Elena POV as well.**

 **And we're at 50 chapters! Thank you all so much to everyone who's joined me along the way, your support means so much to me!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to PhoenixLordess, Outofthisworldgal, Tibblets, Omgwhyyyyy, Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **PhoenixLordess: Whaaat? I would never tease my readers... *shifty expression* Laurel's home, and she's gonna be busy, and it's gonna be great. :D (I'm currently accepting bets as to her reaction to Thranduil, and who she goes after first. lol.) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: No reunion yet this chapter either, unfortunately. :( I wanted to, but couldn't fit it in. Mama's home, though, and she is... let's just say there's going to be a big kerfluffle coming up very soon, lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Tibblets: And ready to take care of some certain stubborn kings... ;D**_

 _ **Omgwhyyyyy: I am so looking forward to writing it, to be honest. It's coming up soon! :D**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: *Sulks* Fine. Use Dis against me. See if I care... Fíli and Elena are alive... but having issues... Whoops.**_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _**What a shame. Looks like they're starting to patch it up, though... for now (Up next: Dragon sickness...) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: We've got Elena and Fíli now! (Celia and Kíli should be coming up soon with fluffy reunion!) And Laurel is coming... and I'm currently accepting bets as to who she goes after first.**_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) **_And there may be a bit of hinting at a baby in the future... maybe... ;D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D_**

 ** _E: Laurel is coming, and mama bear mode is fully engaged. (Honestly, it's only gonna get worse for Thranduil/Thorin from here lol.) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D_**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Celia and Elena.**


	51. Chapter 51 - We're All Mad Here

~~ Elena ~~

Dori was the first one to see them. Evidently keeping watch on the large wall the Company had built in place of the broken wall, he was leaning against it when he saw them coming.

And nearly fell off the wall as he almost vaulted himself over it before remembering where he was. Instead, he contented himself with leaning over the wall as he waited for them to come close enough to speak comfortably.

"Elena! Fíli! Bofur! Óin! You're all right! You're all right!" he called down to them excitedly, whipping around and calling back into the mountain behind him. "Thorin, Celia, Kíli, Bombur, Glóin, everybody! They're back! They're all back from Lake-town!"

Apparently considering his message delivered, he turned back to them. "Are you all all right? Any injuries?" He was busy looping a rope around a rock with several knots tied in it at various points before lowering it down to them as he talked. "You'll have to climb up that rope to get in, I'm afraid. They've closed off the secret entrance."

"No major injuries," Fíli called back, tugging on the rope experimentally. "But I don't think Elena can climb this with her arm. It's been re-injured, and it won't be able to support her weight." He frowned at Elena thoughtfully. "Maybe if we made a sort of basket, or something?"

"Or a loop to put my foot in?" Elena suggested, rubbing her wounded arm uncomfortably. It would be a fun injury to explain. Not. "I could hold onto the rope with my good hand, and you guys could pull me up?"

"You two figure it out, I'm gonna head on up, so I'll be an extra set o' pullin' arms if that's what ya need," Bofur announced, grabbing the rope and quickly clambering up, Dori pulling the rope to speed his progress. When he reached the top, they lowered it back down to them.

"I'll go last," Óin decided. "That way I can be available to help if anything goes wrong, and I'll have the lot of you to pull me up, not that Dori'll need it, strong as he is. But Elena, you can't pull yourself up with that arm. You'll tear it open again, not to mention that it's not strong enough to hold you right now. It's been reopened and aggravated enough times that doing it again could cause permanent damage."

"Well, then, how do you suggest I get up?" Elena frowned. "Have someone carry me?"

"Actually, that just might work," Fíli said thoughtfully.

"I was joking, Fíli," Elena deadpanned.

"I wasn't," he returned without heat. "If I carry you on my back, and Bofur and Dori pull us up, we can reach the top quickly enough. You can hang on with your good arm, and that way you won't put any strain on your bad arm."

Óin shrugged. "Seems like the best plan to me. Elena?"

She crinkled her nose. "Fine. But if you drop me, I'll never forgive you," she warned Fíli.

He bowed. "A prince never drops a lady. Even one as stubborn as you. Besides, if you weren't around, who would I have to judge for making horrible life decisions?" He smirked as he crouched down by the rope.

Elena huffed, tapping his boot lightly with her own before she clambered onto his back, wrapping her good arm around his neck and letting her injured arm clutch loosely to his waist as he carefully stood up, balancing her with his arms when she started to slide.

"You're going to have to hold on tight with your arm and legs, Elena," he cautioned her. "I'm going to need both my hands on the rope to keep us balanced."

She nodded and tightened her hold, then, remembering he couldn't see her behind him, added, "Right. Holding on. Ready whenever you are." She felt her cheeks heat as she almost buried herself into his back, but reminded herself that she had to do this to hang on.

"All right, Dori, we're coming up!" Fíli called, placing his hand on the rope above a knot and heaving himself up. Almost immediately his knuckles started to turn white as they clenched around the rope as he alternately grasped and released as they climbed.

Elena kept quiet, not wanting to distract him, although their pace increased dramatically once Dori and Bofur took hold of the rope and started heaving them upwards.

Within a minute, they were being pulled over the top of the wall and onto steady ground, and then immediately swept up into a tight hug as Dori squeezed the air out of their lungs. Elena yelped as her sore arm was squeezed, making Dori release her with worry. "Are you all right, Elena?" he asked as he and Fíli hovered in concern, while Bofur started pulling Óin up the rope.

"I'm fine," she promised, rubbing the sensitive area carefully. "It's just a bit sensitive, that's all.

"Elena?"

The whisper of her name made them turn, and both Elena and Fíli flinched unconsciously at the sight.

Celia stood by the entryway leading to the ramparts, a disbelieving expression on her face. Kíli stood behind her, eyes flickering between her and the group. Both seemed to be uninjured for the most part, just a few scrapes and bruises here and there.

But they looked terrible. Celia had heavy bags under her eyes, and her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed since they left Lake-town, sticking out of her braid in every which way. There was a long bloody rip in one of her pant legs, a small bandage wrapped around it underneath, but she was standing straight on her own power, so it didn't seem to be serious.

Kíli seemed marginally less exhausted, but he was tense. One hand repeatedly clenched into a fist and unclenched, while the other had some stained and raggedy bandages wrapped around it. Both of them seemed to have lost the bubbly personality they usually shared, although Celia seemed closer to tears than anything.

"Celia?" Her sister sniffed, suddenly blinking back tears. "Are you all right?" Elena started to head towards her, when Celia suddenly moved.

Darting forwards, she tripped over her own two feet and would have slammed into the ground if Kíli, who had been following close behind her, hadn't caught her and pulled her upright. Barely even pausing, she continued forward and slammed into her sister, nearly knocking her over until she managed to compensate and regain her balance.

Unable to help a wide smile taking over her features, she blinked back a few tears of her own as Celia buried her face in her neck, wrapping her arms tightly around her sister.

"I was so afraid," her sister choked out. "That you were dead; that you had been hurt or taken by the Master. I didn't know what had happened to you, and you weren't there, and then people started getting sick, and then we started getting sick, and I didn't know what to do, and I was so scared, and I didn't know if you were all right, and I was just so scared, Elena..." She trailed off, burying a sniffle as best as she could.

Elena rubbed her sister's back soothingly, feeling her heart twinge at the pain in Celia's voice. Her worried eyes met Fíli's, who was having his own touching reunion with Kíli - who seemed to be no less troubled than Celia, if in more control of his emotions, at least on the surface. What had happened while they were gone? Celia was a wreck. And she mentioned something about them all getting sick. Was there something going around?

And then Bilbo came into the area, pulling a clearly reluctant Thorin along with him, dressed in ornate robes and covered in rich jewelry, hissing something that became clearer the closer they got.

"He is your nephew, and while you may not have noticed, for all we knew, he could have been dead or gravely injured the last five days! So help me, you better greet him properly, or I swear on my garden that I will find that rubbish Arkenstone myself and pitch it down the mountain! It is _not_ worth more than your nephews!"

He shoved Thorin towards a still-embracing Fíli and Kíli, watching with folded arms and a cross expression until Thorin's stern features softened and he embraced his nephews, wrapping them both up in his arms. That seemed to be the catalyst that Kíli needed, and his shoulders started shaking silently, though his face never lifted from Fíli's shoulders, only increasing the blond prince's worry.

No one else seemed to notice though, as the rest of the Company came in to focus on their own reunions. Glóin headbutted his brother with a fierceness that gave Elena a headache just thinking about it, and Bífur and Bombur wrapped Bofur up in a tight hug.

Dori, clearly moved by the sight, had wrapped up both Nori and Ori into a hug that left both of them gasping for breath and complaining, and Balin and Dwalin merely stood off to the side chuckling - although the older warrior may have had a few tears of his own in his eyes as he watched the Durins reunite.

Once he was sure that Thorin was acting as a proper uncle should be, Bilbo turned to Elena and Celia, standing back to let Celia have her own private embrace first, although he promised that he would be getting his own later with a soft smile.

"It's good to see you again, Elena, if only because I was worried about you. I can't handle Celia and Kíli on my own, you know. Someone's got to help." He watched her smirk with a twinkle in his eye, then continued. "So it's a good thing that you brought Óin back with you. He should be able to help."

She scoffed. "Rude. I'm clearly not the one who has trouble handling things, Uncle Bilbo. I was gone for barely over a week, and I come back to you only to find that you've nearly destroyed a mountain while I was gone!"

She lifted a hand from Celia's back to wave at the mountain and discarded rubble visible on the rampart and further into the mountain. "I mean, I can understand wrecking a room because you can't handle life without me. But setting a whole mountain on fire? How are you going to explain the scorch marks, huh?"

Bilbo sniffed haughtily, sticking his nose in the air only a Baggins could. "Well, someone had to look after the interior redecorating. Thorin clearly had no interest in it."

"Bilbo, shush. This is hug time," Celia grumbled, pulling away slightly from the hug with reddened eyes that they pretended not to notice as she tugged Bilbo into the hug.

"I really am glad you're back, Elena," Bilbo whispered softly, all hints of humor gone from his voice. "But I'm not sure you should have come, if I'm honest."

She drew back from the hug, not missing Celia's pout as she reluctantly stood straight, nor the way Kíli came to stand beside her after being released from his much shorter hug with his uncle and brother, while others took his place with Fíli, and Thorin stood back and watched. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see soon enough," was his cryptic reply. "In fact, I think his royal pain might just be about to give you a demonstration now."

And indeed, Thorin was coming to stand before the group, his heavy cloak swishing around him. Gone was the soft expression formerly on his face, replaced by a stern expression that was somehow harsher and colder than most she had seen from him before, especially when there were no elves around or under discussion.

"I am glad all of you have returned, and in good health," he said, his voice slow and deep. "We need all the help we can get. The Arkenstone is hidden somewhere inside these walls, and without it, we cannot unite the other tribes. We have been searching, but perhaps with your aid, we might find it sooner. Or perhaps Lady Elena might know of its location?" He tilted his head at her curiously, and though he was calm and polite as ever, she felt chills run down her spine.

"Thorin!" Kíli snapped, glaring at his uncle. "We've been over this already. It is not so vital a matter that they would know the location of the Arkenstone."

Thorin scowled at his nephew, with little of the affection he formerly held even at his most irate. "And perhaps things might go easier for all of us, if you remembered your place, Kíli. You are not King, nor do you speak for Lady Elena. Fíli, Lady Elena, Óin, Bofur, come with me, and I will show you what we have been seeking for so long."

Without even sparing a glance for Kíli, he spun on his heel and left, clearly expecting them to follow him. Dwalin and Glóin followed him without a word, though Balin both looked pityingly at the younger prince. Everyone else acted as though it were normal for the two normally close family members to be fighting so coldly.

Elena just stood there, completely taken aback by the coolness in Thorin's voice as he brushed Kíli off, disrespected him, and basically just acted like a complete - and then she caught sight of Fíli, and her thoughts trailed away.

He was frozen, staring after his uncle with a shocked expression on his face, looking as though he had no idea what had just happened.

But Kíli... Kíli looked completely heartbroken. What was perhaps worse, was that he also looked completely unsurprised by it all, as did Celia. She slipped past Elena, though not without a sorrowful glance, and took Kíli's hand in hers. He clutched it like it was a lifeline, looking at her with pained eyes.

"It's not your fault, Kíli," she murmured softly. "And it's not his, either. Remember that." She glanced back at Elena and Fíli. "You should probably go after Thorin, at least for now. It'll be better that way. We'll be in the guardroom where we sleep when you're done. Ask one of the others to show you where it is if you're uncertain. It's just off from the treasury." And with one last look, as if to solidify Elena in her memory, Celia and Kíli quietly left, taking a sharp turn just inside the entryway to the mountain where Thorin had gone straight.

Fíli was still standing frozen where Thorin had left him. "What just happened?"

Elena blinked. "I don't... I'm honestly not sure, but I don't think it was good. Let's just go after Thorin and see what he wants, and then go find Celia and Kíli, and see what's really going on around here. Because I honestly think something else is going on."

Fíli nodded fervently as they set out into the mountain after Thorin with Bilbo, Bofur, and Óin, his face torn between emotions. "There has to be. Thorin never talks to Kíli like that, _ever_. Despite all the coolness Thorin assumes, he and Kíli have always been close in a different way than he and I." His face hardened. "But he hurt Kíli. There's no excuse for that, and I have no idea why he would actually try and hurt Kíli."

"That's not the worst of it," Bilbo said solemnly. "Normally I'd say go after Kíli, but I don't think you'd believe everything he'd tell you if you didn't see at least some of it first. Just... don't take it personally, all right? The treasury's right through here," he added, stopping outside a doorway that emanated a gold glow.

"Normally I'd go with you, but I think that if I got too close to the Sacksville-Baggins wannabe in there, I'd do something that my father might not consider appropriate. My mother would definitely be cheering me on, but I don't believe that's relevant. Anyways, best to not keep him waiting when he's like this. I'll show you to the guardroom when you're through," Bilbo informed them, stepping aside from the door.

The four of them cautiously entered the huge hall that had been dubbed 'the treasury', all of them unable to repress at least a little bit of awe at the sight. It was huge, and filled with piles upon piles of gold coins that heaped up over ten feet tall in places, and had bits of jewelry and other precious metals and gems scattered throughout.

A movement off to the side caught their eye, and they turned to see Thorin stride through a lower doorway into the main hall, gold coins slipping through his hands back onto the stacks.

He looked up to see them standing on the platform, his gaze wilder than it had been outside. "Gold. Gold beyond measure. Beyond sorrow and grief," he said lowly, his gaze trailing out over the treasure. "Behold - the great treasure hoard of Thror."

He suddenly hauled back and flung something high in the air towards Fíli. Although still a bit stunned, he caught it easily, looking a bit sickened when he opened his hand to reveal a giant, blood-red jewel. "Welcome, my sister's son, to the kingdom of Erebor!" He flung his hands out wide to proudly indicate the vast treasure spread about.

Fíli looked horrified.

Thorin didn't seem too focused on them for long after that, instead turning to call to Dwalin, who was digging somewhere in the far side of the hall. "Any sign of it?"

"Nothing yet!" Dwalin reported back.

"Nothing here, either," Glóin called in from his spot - evidently hidden behind a stack of coins somewhere close.

"Keep searching!" Thorin ordered, tracing his fingers over a green gem he had picked up from the floor. "The Arkenstone is in these halls - find it! All of you! No one rests until it is found!"

"You heard him! Keep looking!" Dwalin shouted to the Ri brothers, who had evidently just come in to help the search.

Óin in particular did not look impressed, but headed down to help anyways, and Bofur, after casting a concerned look at Fíli, wandered off to help Bífur and Bombur. Balin was nowhere to be found.

Fíli watched in horrified silence a moment longer before shaking his head slowly, not taking his eyes off the figure of his uncle. "No. I can't do this. I need to get out of here."

Elena nodded, fighting the urge to shiver again. "Right. Let's go find Kíli and Celia."

Bilbo was waiting for them outside the treasury, talking to Balin. He stopped when he saw them, casting Fíli a sympathetic look. He didn't say a word, letting Fíli have the chance to think as he led them through a side tunnel in the mountain to a larger area where a number of bedrolls and packs had been set up.

Celia and Kíli sat on one, Celia's head resting on his shoulder with her eyes closed. Elena raised her eyebrows at the position that would have left both of them blushing before they left Lake-town.

Noticing that neither of them moved, or even blushed when they came in, Elena filed away the thought to tease them about later when they didn't look like they were about to pass out from exhaustion. That, and when Kíli didn't look so tense, although he no longer appeared quite as hurt as he had earlier before he disappeared with Celia. Whatever they were doing, it appeared to be enough to at least temporarily make up for Thorin's issues.

Fíli seemed to have no qualms about disturbing their closeness, and plopped down in front of Kíli, his face open and confused? Hurt? Scared?

"What in the name of Durin happened to our uncle? Because that was not him."

Or perhaps it was angry.

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was simultaneously easy and difficult to write. Easy, because I knew what I wanted to write. Difficult, because I had to make Thorin a jerk, and I kept wanting to write him nice. Except gold-sick Thorin was not a nice Thorin, and unfortunately, right now Kíli has been taking the brunt of it. :(**

 **I tried to include at least a little bit of happiness this chapter with their reunion, but then Thorin got in the way. Next chapter, though, should have a fair bit of fluff/happiness - or as close as you can get in their situation.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, PhoenixLordess, Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, MagillaDani, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Oh yeah. Bets are being laid as to when and if they will realize/do anything about it. (And Celia will totally sing that song from the Lion King when and if Elena and Fíli ever get their act together and get together). You can expect some more naiveness, most likely, but also a surprising bit of maturity in the future. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **PhoenixLordess: First, thank you for an awesome review. It almost made me cry because I've been so stressed lately, and then I just got this awesome review that was so nice, so thanks for that. I try not to miss an upload date, so I'll likely continue to update every week, but yeah. The chapters will probably be on the short end for a while. :P I'll try not to leave you in suspense for too long, lol. (Here's a bit of Kília action for you, though Fílena is regretfully absent. Maybe next week. I hear it's supposed to be fluffy.)  
**_ _ **As for Laurel... your imagined scene made me laugh so hard. The best part, though, had to be when you said she was about to shoot the idiot king. Be**_ _ **cause I was just like - which one? - lmho, I wish I could do that, but their reunion won't be in Mirkwood, regretfully enough. Hopefully it'll still be funny, though! (And I like how you pictured Elena and Celia. They totally would be eating cookies.) I will gladly take a cookie if you take one for leaving such an awesome review. It's reviews like this (although I appreciate every single one of them) that really encourage me. Hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: *Smirks -bigger? Louder? IDK. *Smirks more* You know they survived Smaug... but the Battle of the Five Armies is yet to come... Who knows if they will survive that? (Well, me, I suppose, but still...) And no one said I had to be nice to them in the meantime. *cracks knuckles with evil grin* Challenge accepted. Hope you liked it! ;)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Hahaha, well, depending on the situation, there will definitely be one king on the business end of Laurel's arrow, and she will be ticked (and she won't be the only one, either). I'm really glad you liked the last chapter, and thank you so much for your encouraging words! It really does mean a lot to me, especially now when I'm so often stressed and busy and running all over the place trying to get everywhere at once. :P I'll keep updating on Tuesdays, but the chapters will likely be in the shorter range for a bit, so thank you for being patient and understanding about it. It really is super encouraging and motivating to me when I get reviews like this, so thank you so much for that. Hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **MagillaDani: You really are a female-human version of them, lol. Hope you continue to stay close (though, perhaps try not to get into as much trouble as them, lol). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **E: Yep. Stubborn as rocks at times, unfortunately. And Óin has plenty of experience dealing with stubbornness *cough* Thorin *cough* Celia is back, although apparently not doing too well, but we should get some fluff next chapter. Possibly some long-awaited explanations as well. Thanks for the congrats! I really appreciate you sticking it out with me this far, and perhaps we'll even hit a hundred chapters for this story! (I have ideas for a sequel, but that's up in the air right now.) Thanks for an awesome review, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	52. Chapter 52 - Break

~~ Elena ~~

"What does it look like?" Kíli asked dully, the bruising under his eyes magnified in the shadows of the room. "He's got the gold sickness."

Fíli shook his head immediately. "No. No, it can't be. He's never - why would-" he sputtered to a stop, and finally settled on, "He always said he'd never fall to it, that he'd seen his own father and grandfather fall prey to it."

"Well, he was wrong," Kíli snapped. "He was wrong about a lot of things."

Celia sat up straight and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Kíli," she rebuked him mildly. "You had a hard time believing it at first too, remember? It's not his fault. Fíli and Elena weren't here for most of it. They haven't seen everything that's happened."

Elena took a seat by her sister, exchanging a worried glance with Fíli. "What exactly did happen? You and Kíli both look exhausted, and Bilbo's awfully cross with Thorin. And... correct me if I'm wrong, but I would've thought there would've been a bigger fuss about everyone coming back from Lake-town. I mean, you said you thought we were dead, Celia. What happened?"

Celia rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "That's a long story, none of it pleasant."

"And I'd like to know what happened to you," Kíli added, his dark eyes flickering between his brother and Elena. "We know Smaug died, but that's about all we know."

"How about a trade?" Elena asked, shifting her legs so she sat cross-legged. "You tell us what happened here, and then we tell you guys what happened in Lake-town?" _And maybe take a nap_ , she added mentally, eyeing Celia's heavy eyes.

"All right," Celia agreed tiredly, Kíli giving in a moment after she did. "I guess we might as well start after we left you guys in Lake-town. It took us around three days to reach the mountain, and then we had to find the secret staircase hidden behind a giant statue. And then we had to find the hidden door, and almost didn't. Then we did manage to open it, and sent Bilbo inside to scout it out. That's kind of where it all started."

"Here, just wait a second, Celia," Elena interrupted, sliding her bag off her shoulder. "Let me comb out your hair and re-braid it while we talk. It looks like it hasn't been done for a while."

"What?" Celia blinked, thrown off track by the interruption, then slowly reached a hand up to feel her disintegrating braid. "Oh. I guess I hadn't really noticed. We've been really busy." She scooted in front of her sister, pulling the tie from her regular braid, and the two beads from her special braids, holding them loosely in her hand.

Fíli looked at his disheveled brother and beckoned him over as well. "Come on over, Kíli. Don't think I didn't notice that your hair was more unkempt than usual." He pulled out a comb of his own from his pack and waited until his brother had reluctantly moved in front of him to start working out some of the tangles in his hair. "Continue please, Celia. How did you get in the door? What was the answer to the riddle?"

Elena carefully combed through her sister's hair with her uninjured arm, starting from the bottom and working her way up as Celia continued their tale. She'd never seen it so tangled, save for perhaps when they were younger, and both of them avoided brushes as if their lives depended on it.

In fact, this might have been worse, as Celia's hair was much longer this time around, and some of the tangles were so bad they nearly ate the comb once or twice. Kíli's hair, by nature of being much shorter, was quickly combed and his proper braids put in, though he stayed leaning against his brother afterwards.

"Wait," she interrupted at one point near the end, almost yanking Celia's hair from lack of attention. "You mean to tell me that everyone here is getting sick, not just Thorin?"

"Ow! Elena! Not so rough!" Celia complained. Her sister apologized, returning to her gentler strokes. "Yeah. But it's not all the same thing. Kíli explained it to me. Everyone can get gold sickness, including all the other races, and apparently there's another version of it, where instead of being obsessed strictly with gold, you get obsessed about something else. And because we're dwarves, we're more prone to it than other races. And the fact that all this gold was kept by Smaug for a century or two isn't helping."

"So... who's all sick?" Elena asked slowly, glancing worriedly at Fíli. "And... I guess, about what? Or, what kind, or whatever?"

"Hang on, I think I wrote it down," Celia muttered, pulling her hair loose from Elena and crawling over to her bag, pulling out a few sheets of paper with writing scrawled on them before returning to her sister.

"Okay, here we go. Thorin, Glóin, Nori, and Ori all have the gold sickness. We think. Nori jingles a lot more than he usually does, and Ori spends all his time in the treasury sketching the gold. And he snaps at Dori a lot more than he used to. Oh, and Glóin's been almost completely focused on counting the gold and wealth in the treasury, when he's not looking for the stupid shiny rock that's definitely never caused problems before, so why wouldn't we look for it, and I'm rambling; Kíli, help me!"

Without changing expression, Kíli leaned forward and placed his hand over her mouth, picking up where she had left off. "We think Bilbo, Balin, and Bífur are the only healthy ones left. Dwalin, Bombur, Dori, and I have all exhibited signs of being more possessive and obsessed with things than we're supposed to."

"Wait. You?" Fíli asked his brother, trying to keep a steady expression. "What are you possessive of, if not gold? Food?"

"Nah, that's Bombur's gig," Celia spoke up absently beneath Kíli's hand before he dropped it, closing her eyes as Elena resumed combing her hair. "We think Dori's just more protective of us younger ones in general, and a bit more obsessed with being neat and tidy. Dwalin's like Thorin's brother, so he's more willing to do whatever it takes to follow Thorin's plans."

"Huh. And what about you, then? What are you possessive of?" Fíli asked his brother cautiously. Kíli flushed bright red and muttered something. "What? I can't hear you, Kee."

Kíli groaned and raised his voice. "I said I'm possessive of Celia, all right? I have a strong desire to protect her and keep her safe and by my side." He glared at the floor, not meeting any of their gaze.

Elena and Fíli just stared at him for a long minute, sitting absolutely still. Then Elena bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, willing herself to keep her voice expressionless. "Wait. You mean you can become possessive of people, too? And the object of your obsession is Celia?" She bit her lip, trying not to laugh or say something that could be taken the wrong way.

"That's what I said, didn't I?" he muttered, still not meeting her eyes. "It's not like I can help it. Or want it. I know it seems like something funny, but I can feel that something is wrong. In my head, my thoughts are foggy, and I have trouble thinking straight sometimes. My first inclination is that Celia belongs to me, that she's mine. And she's not an object, nor do I own her!" He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking it out of the order Fíli had restored. "It doesn't help that neither of us are getting much sleep."

Elena sobered, putting down her brush reluctantly. "What about you, Cel? What do you think about all this?" Her sister didn't answer. "Cel?" She tapped her on the shoulder lightly. "Cel? Are you awake?"

"Mmm, I'm awake," Celia mumbled, taking a deep breath and sitting up from her slouched position. "What were you saying?"

"I was asking how you felt about all of this? And have you been affected by anything? I couldn't help but notice that you weren't mentioned in any of the lists you and Kíli discussed," Elena pointed out.

"Oh." Celia scooted backwards so that she could face all the group, blinking rapidly to try and clear the sleep from her eyes. "Um... yeah. It's not Kíli's fault, or anyone else's that they're getting sick. And it's not like there's anything we can do about it anyways. Kíli's the only one who knows most of what's going on, and I can't exactly go wandering off on my own. I'd trip and fall in a hole and die, most likely. I don't want to, anyways. With you and Fíli being gone, he was the only one I could relate to."

She gave up on blinking and rubbed her eyes, fighting back a yawn. "And I'm not on the lists because we don't know which one I'd be on. We're pretty sure that I've been affected because I've been so tired and groggy lately, but I keep having these horrible nightmares whenever I do manage to fall asleep, so it's not like I really get any rest then, either.

"I'm not obsessed with gold, but Kíli pointed out that I've spent this whole trip worrying about the Company, so I could very easily become obsessed with protecting it. We don't know for sure, both of us are exhausted and going off of guesswork, but that's the best idea we've come up with so far."

"I don't think I can redo your braids, Celia," Elena said after a moment of thought. "I can't strain my arm that much right now. Hey, Kíli?" She waited until the prince looked up to continue. "Can you please put Celia's braids back in for me? I would do it, but I can't lift my arm up that much for that long right now, and I also haven't learned the healer's braid yet."

His eyes swung up to meet hers, looking startled, and she scoffed. "I know what you told Celia, but Fíli told me that close friends can braid each other's hair as well. You two apparently defied Thorin and took on a dragon together, I think you can do this without it being taken as a marriage proposal." She hesitated. "Unless you're uncomfortable with it. I suppose I can ask Balin for help, perhaps. Or maybe Óin."

"No! I can do it," he said hastily, flushing when she raised an amused eyebrow at him. "Shut up," he muttered, looking away. "It's not like that." He got up from his spot by Fíli with a sigh and crouched in front of an increasingly sleepy-looking Celia.

"Are you all right with me braiding your hair, Celia? I can find Balin or show Bilbo how to do it if you're not comfortable with me doing it," he said softly, gentleness and - no matter how hard he tried to hide it - hope filling his tone as he looked her in the eyes.

She smiled sleepily. "I trust you, Kíli. Go ahead and braid my hair."

Kíli smiled for the first time since they had arrived that day, lightening his expression and relieving some of the lines stress had etched on him. "Thank you."

But he didn't move immediately, both of them lost in each other's gaze until Elena inadvertently ruined the moment by shifting to sit more comfortably, scraping a stone against the ground with her boot. Both Kíli and Celia averted their eyes, cheeks dusted a light pink.

Lifting a hand, he waited cautiously until she met his eyes and once more nodded her agreement to continue, his fingers brushing her cheek and turning both of them scarlet once again as he scooped up several of her locks.

Carefully dividing them into three sections, he braided them across her head and over to the right side, adding in more hair and finally tying it off with her family braid. Then, once more starting on the left side, he slowly but surely braided a section into the elaborate four-part braid Elena recognized from before, tying it off with the bead Óin had given her.

"Finished," he told her when he had done, getting up and settling once more by his brother.

Celia ran her fingers over her two new braids, smiling shyly. "Thank you, Kíli."

He smiled back at her, before turning to his brother and Elena, losing the smile and reverting to the serious manner he had had before. "Now that we've given you plenty of teasing fodder, do you mind telling me what happened down in Lake-town?"

Elena didn't answer right away, considering her response and trying to convey her thoughts to a watchful Fíli. Celia was in no condition to hear everything that had happened down there, as it would likely only stress her out and make it harder for her to fall asleep.

She would be too out of it to notice or make much of a protest right now, but Kíli might insist on hearing the whole tale after she fell asleep, if only because his need to protect her drove him to stay awake. And he looked like he needed as much sleep as her sister.

"All right, but I'm not going to go into it all right now. It's really long, and Celia looks exhausted. So, I'll start talking on the condition that she lays down and tries to sleep," Elena countered, patting Celia's bedroll next to her.

Celia blinked slowly at her. "But what if Thorin says he wants us to go back to searching for the Arkenstone?"

"Then I will tell him exactly what he can do with his request," Elena replied coolly. "Both of us have spent the last week worried about the other, and this is our first chance to see each other since we were separated. If he has a problem with it, he can take it up with the guy who separated us in the first place."

Celia squinted at her, but came to lay down beside her anyways, wriggling until she got comfortable. "I don't think Thorin would like that. He's kind of grumpy nowadays. And he doesn't really like talking to people."

Elena snorted, carding her fingers through her sister's hair. "He's always grumpy. And he never likes talking to people. Or people in general, really."

"Yeah. It's an issue. We're working on it," Celia confided in her innocently, fighting to get her words out through a yawn, still struggling to keep her eyes open. "Well, I say working on it. And by that, I mean ignoring it. What was I saying again?"

"Go to sleep, Celia," Elena told her sister fondly.

Celia forced her eyes open again, looking strangely vulnerable. "But what if I wake up, and you're gone again?"

"We'll all be here when you wake up, and Kíli might even be asleep too," Elena reassured her, stroking her sister's hair in a soothing rhythm.

"That's good," her little sister mumbled, reaching out and loosely holding her sister's leg like a child before closing her eyes. "He needs the sleep. He's attractive normally, but he doesn't look as cute with all the bags under his eyes. It's not good for him."

Elena snorted, trying to cover up her laughter, but it didn't matter. Celia was already asleep. "Hear that, Kíli? Celia thinks you need to go to bed." She glanced over at the poor prince, who was beet red and shoving his snickering brother. "You'll look better if you do."

"Shut up," he muttered, crossing his arms and letting his hair fall in front of his face in a futile attempt at hiding. "Just tell me what happened in Lake-town. It obviously can't have been good if Elena got re-injured."

Fíli sobered slowly, letting out one last chuckle before returning to business. "It wasn't. In fact, it probably went worse than everything here, and from what I've heard so far, that's saying something. If something could go wrong, it did."

"Did you have any trouble with the Master?" Kíli asked, shoving his hair back behind out of his face now that the teasing seemed to be over with for the time being.

Elena snorted, careful to keep her voice low as Celia stirred slightly before falling silent once more. "More like what trouble _didn't_ we have with him? Just from the top of my memory, there's at least two attempts to kidnap us, attempted murder, since he tried to drown Fíli, tried to kill me when I tried to escape, and then tried to get me again when Smaug attacked. Oh! And when we tried to evacuate the town, we had to both promise money to get him to do it, and then when he finally did agree, he made everyone pay to even be allowed on the boats for the evacuation, despite the fact that we had already promised to pay them for their time."

"Don't forget locking up Bard's children so that he couldn't do anything, and refusing to let them leave, potentially dooming them should Smaug attack as we feared - and rightfully so, as it turned out," Fíli piped up.

Kíli stared between the two of them in a mixture of shock and anger, his eyes growing darker. "What? And no one stopped him?"

Elena shrugged. "He was the Master of Lake-town, Kíli. The guards were all bought and paid for, and Bard couldn't do much when his children were at risk. As for everyone else, why would they speak up? It was their normal, and they didn't have the training, courage, or weapons to stand up to him. Not yet. And we were just a couple of dwarves, nobody they really cared about."

Kíli shook his head in disgust. "Uncle would never -" He stopped, his face crumpling. "The old him wouldn't - he wouldn't -" He faltered again, losing his fire and letting his eyes fall to the floor, letting his hands clench into fists again. "I can't..."

Fíli scooted closer to him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "It's alright, _nadadith_. You can tell me," he whispered. Elena glanced down at her sister, trying to focus on her, but unable to help but overhear the whispered conversation that seemed to cut at her with every word.

"I've tried for so hard to be strong," Kíli whispered. "I've had to. You and Elena were gone, and Bilbo didn't know what we were going through, _couldn't_ know what we were going through. And what little he did know, he had trouble understanding. And Thorin... Thorin was sick, but then he wasn't the only one, others were showing signs of it as well, and then we did too... Have you ever doubted your sanity, Fee? Like, really, truly questioned everything you thought you knew?"

"Oh, Kíli," Fíli mourned, tightening his hold on his brother.

"I had to stay strong, though," Kíli continued as if he hadn't even heard him. "Celia was scared, and even though I was too, I couldn't show it, not really. Not when she and several of the others were looking to me. Bilbo knew something was wrong, he just didn't know what. But he trusted me to take care of Celia because something was obviously wrong with Thorin."

He choked out a bitter laugh. "Do you know what he told me? He told me that he could tell that something was going around changing the Company. And that if it changed him, he hoped he could trust me to look out for her."

Kíli's voice was starting to crack, but he kept going. "But then Thorin kept putting all this pressure on me, to find the Arkenstone and accept my place as a prince of Erebor, pushing coins and crowns and rings at me, as if offering me a gaudy piece of jewelry could replace my uncle! Then he'd get upset when I didn't want it, even though I've never been fond of jewelry in the first place, particularly overworked pieces that hold no sentimental value to me. And then the rest of the time, he'd practically forget I even existed unless I was in his line of sight, then he'd just yell at me to get back to work."

Fíli's face was just getting more and more upset with each word, and Elena could feel her own heart breaking with his.

"And either way... he was forgetting me, but I had to be strong for Celia, and for the rest of us. Because if I wasn't, Celia and I could both be in trouble," Kíli whispered, finally raising his eyes from the ground to look at his brother, revealing red-rimmed eyes. "Fee... It just hurts so much. I don't think I can be strong anymore."

* * *

 **A/N: In which Kíli is sad, and Celia is sleepy. Still no backstory on Elena vs. Smaug, but it's coming!**

 **Also, this story took freaking forever to write. I thought it was gonna be quicker than normal, but nooo, it ended up taking like twice as long. *Huffs* I am so ready for it to be August. :P**

 **And finally, nadadith is Khuzdul for 'little brother' (rough translation)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to PhoenixLordess, ZuzuStormieSmogge, Outofthisworldgal, ColdOnePaul, Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, Gyuchin, Faron Oakenshield, and E for reviewing! (Seriously, thank you. They are a bright spot in my insane, crazy week)**

 _ **PhoenixLordess: Lol, I might just take you up on that offer *Hunts down ravens* Thanks for your encouragement, it's really appreciated. (More Kília here, lol. Hope you liked it. ;D) I'm glad you liked how I wrote Thorin... it always kind of makes me nervous, because it's like, is he being too nice, is he being too mean, am I overthinking it (yes), etc. It's not getting much better for poor Kíli, though. Thanks for an awesome review, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **ZuzuStormieSmogge: Haha, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! And can I just say, I love your username! :D**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yep. Him and Kíli are going to be struggling a lot with this, if just because of how close they are/used to be with Thorin. But reunion! (And hugs, I can be a little bit nice sometimes lol). They might even be able to figure out a few things... if time allows. ;D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: Yeah, Thorin's not getting any nicer any time soon (unfortunately for Fíli and Kíli). I can definitely say that there will be certain people who will have... words... with him regarding his issues. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: Lol, good luck with that. I think there's a line (and getting longer).  
P.S. *Rubs hands together evilly* Your move... *mwahaha* thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yeah, I'm not overly fond of goldsick!Thorin either. :P But I can't make him super nice when he's sick, either, unfortunately. Aww! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it, though, even if Thorin's a jerk. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed! :D**_

 _ **Gyuchin: Thanks! It's always great to hear that people enjoy my story. :D Hope you like this next chapter!  
**_

 _ **Faron Oakenshield: Yay! I'm so glad to hear that you like it! As for your question... I'll be continuing this story for quite a bit after the movie/book storyline with their lives in Erebor, and ideas for a sequel are currently being considered. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **E: Relatively unscathed... emphasis on relatively... Yeah. Thorin has issues. And now he's giving poor Fíli and Kíli issues. But they can start working on them together now. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	53. Chapter 53 - Dreams of War and Darkness

**Trigger warning for major character death and fairly graphic descriptions of blood and gore, and battle/fight scenes in the beginning of this chapter.**

~~ Celia ~~

It was the first thing she saw when she managed to clamber her way up to the top of the rock blocking her way.

Blood, everywhere.

Dripping down her face and onto her hand. Splattered on the rocks, pooled into puddles on the ground, decorating limp bodies that sprawled lifelessly here and there, staining the snow a bright scarlet. Its scent lingered in the air, mixed with the stench of mud and vomit and a dozen other scents she couldn't identify as she dropped to the ground.

She jogged through the misty chaos, bow at the ready. She had to find them. She had to. It was the only chance she had to save them. The trouble was, she didn't know how long she'd been trapped behind that rock, or where they were. Just where they would be.

Ravenhill.

Unless they were already there. She doubled her speed, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest. She was gasping for breath by the time she reached the abandoned fortress, and barely made it up the broken stairs.

She almost collapsed in relief when she saw Thorin, Bilbo, and Dwalin standing on a frozen river by the edge of a cliff, with a ruined tower above them, and some sort of hallway several yards below them. All three of them looked mostly unharmed, although stained with blood from battle and injuries.

Thorin spun around, raising his sword defensively, only to lower it when he saw her. "Celia. What are you doing here? This isn't safe!"

Slinging her bow her shoulder, and resting her hands on her knees, she nodded wildly. "I know! Had to - tell you - 's a trap!" she managed between pants. "Wait." Her eyes darted between the group. "Where's Fíli and Kíli? And Elena?"

"We know it's a trap. Bilbo told us," Thorin agreed, snow dusting his head. "They went to scout out the fortress, and we were about to call them back."

Her eyes widened. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Fíli!"

"What about him?" Thorin demanded, stepping closer.

A drum sounded from the tower before she could answer. Whipping around, they saw a pale orange light appear on one side of the tower, oval shaped and with a dark shadow in the center, growing steadily larger and brighter. It almost looked like an eye, with the edges flickering as if in flame, and she felt her heart clench in her chest at the connotations. Then the black grew, almost cutting off the orange as Azog stepped forward out of the depths of the tower, dragging a limp and bloodied Fíli with him.

"Fíli!" Celia screamed, whipping her bow off her shoulder and stringing an arrow. Drawing it back she aimed it directly at Azog's heart. "Let him go!" she demanded, tears filling her eyes and making her voice wobble. She blinked them back furiously, trying to clear her vision.

Azog only laughed, hauling Fíli up in front of his chest and looking at her invitingly. The arrow wavered on the string, then finally dropped as she lowered the bow, staring up at Fíli with a sob choking her throat.

Azog bared his teeth in a triumphant, malicious grin. "This one dies first," he snarled. "And the female he sought so desperately to protect. Then the brother. Then you, Oakenshield. You will die last, knowing I have brought about the end of the line of Durin."

"Fíli!" Thorin shouted desperately, tears glimmering in his blue eyes as he stared up at his nephew. Dwalin and Bilbo stood beside him wordlessly.

"Celia! Your sister's hurt! You need to get her out of here!" Fíli called down to them, blood trickling out of one corner of his mouth and a tear tracing down his cheek. "You need to run! Kíli, I - " he choked, eyes going wide.

Azog withdrew his blade arm, smirking as Fíli's head dropped forward lifelessly, then turned to look at Thorin. "Here ends your filthy bloodline!" he snarled, holding Fíli's body out over the chasm between them and dropping it, Dwalin turning away from the sight, and Thorin unable to look away.

"No!" Celia screamed, her cry echoed by his brother as she watched him fall limply to the ground, eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky. Azog disappeared into the mist behind the tower, laughing cruelly as she fired off arrow after arrow at him uselessly, all bouncing off the rocks or sailing harmlessly through the air. Finally giving up, she shouted in rage before sinking to her knees. "He's dead," she whispered in disbelief. All that forewarning, all that preparation for nothing.

No one listened to her.

"Kíli!" Thorin shouted, suddenly taking off across the frozen river.

"Thorin! Thorin, no!" Dwalin called after him, giving up when a screech echoed around them. He cursed, pulling out his axes as massive bats began flying out of the fog.

Bilbo held his sword at the ready, already glowing blue as orcs began crawling over the ruins, but Celia didn't move, still staring down at Fíli's lifeless body. "Celia!" he snapped. "You can't give up now! You have to keep fighting! Everyone else is still alive, but they might not be for long, and neither will you if you don't fight back!"

Celia's eyes snapped up to him, his words finally penetrating the fog that had wrapped around her mind. "The others... Elena! Fíli mentioned Elena before -!" She scrambled to her feet and picked up her bow. "I have to find her - and Kíli..."

"Celia, wait -" Bilbo tried, but she didn't listen. She couldn't.

"Sorry, Uncle Bilbo. I love you!" She embraced him quickly then took off before he could stop her, running back across the frozen river towards the ruined tower. Elena, Kíli, and Thorin were all somewhere over there, she just had to find them.

She heard the sound of fighting start behind her and winced, but kept going. Dwalin and Bilbo would survive, they had to. They weren't the targets.

Thorin and Kíli would likely not be as lucky.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to use her bow in such close quarters, she slung it back over her shoulder as she ran, pulling out two daggers she'd managed to hang onto. She was nowhere near as good with them as Fíli was - had been - nor even Elena, but she could passably defend herself.

"Elena!" she shouted desperately, knowing she was only drawing attention to herself, but doing it anyways. "Elena, where are you? Elena!"

She reached the other side of the river at last and scrambled across the ruins in her way, running down the stairs into the maze of tunnels. She heard a cry that sounded faintly like her name from somewhere down the tunnel and took off in that direction, calling for her sister until an orc came out of a dark doorway and barreled into her, slamming her into the opposite wall .

She grunted as the air was knocked out of her lungs and slid to the ground, trying futilely to get air back in and stand up, but was kicked back down each time she tried. One particularly vicious blow landed on her mouth, and her head snapped back before falling forward as blows rained down on her, never giving her time to reorient herself and strike back. Her opponent seemed content just using his hands and feet, as she never felt anything slice her skin, just blows that rained down on her ribs and legs.

At last, she dizzily managed to kick out and hit him in the knees, sending him stumbling back a few steps. Drawing her two daggers, she staggered unsteadily to her feet and slashed them through the air threateningly, though the effect was ruined when she had to lean back against the wall for support.

Unsurprisingly, he only laughed, drawing a knife of his own in much steadier hands. "So you want to play with sharp knives then?" He sneered in a nasally tone, licking the bloodied edge of his knife menacingly and grinned at her, teeth stained yellow and red. "I won't kill you though. Azog wants you all to himself. Never said nothing about cutting you up a little, though."

"Unfortunately, I won't be extending the same favor to you," a voice cut through coldly. The orc turned to look, only to be met with a sword through his skull. Kíli withdrew his sword and let the orc fall to the ground, his lip curled. Scanning the area for signs of life, he finally deemed it safe enough and turned to her, sucking in a breath.

"Durin's beard, Celia! Your face!"

Shifting her dagger to the other hand, Celia lifted her free hand to her face where it hurt the most, wincing when she brushed the skin by her mouth. When she pulled her hand away, it was bloody, and she could only guess that the orc's boot had cut her skin. And done some more damage, she realized, probing gingerly with her tongue.

"I think he knocked a tooth loose." She groaned, wincing when she found another sore spot. "Or maybe two."

"Yeah, well, maybe he knocked your brain back into place, too!" Kíli snapped, anger taking the place of relief once it seemed she was mostly all right, just bruised and bloodied. "What were you thinking, running through here and shouting like that? Don't you know this place is swarming with orcs?"

"I was thinking I had to find my sister!" she retorted, pushing off from the wall with a wince, her hand going to her ribs. Those were bruised as well, it seemed. "I know she's around here somewhere, both Azog and Fíli said - " She faltered, Kíli swallowing hard at the mention of his brother. "I'm sorry," she said softly, anger leaving her at the sight of his grief.

He shook his head, shoving down his emotions. "No, you're right. We need to find Elena. She could be hurt, Azog threatened her as well. Do you think you can walk?"

"I think I'd better try," she muttered, stumbling further down the hallway. "We have to get her to safety, then find Thorin. Azog's going after him next, I think, and he'll kill Thorin if we don't get there in time."

Kíli's fist clenched a little tighter around his sword, but he just took her arm and placed it around his shoulders, helping her walk faster through the tunnels. "Then let's get a move on. There's no telling what Azog will do to her if he finds her. She was still with Fí - with him, when we split up. They must have split up again, because she wasn't with them later."

"Where were you at when you split up?" she asked, spitting out some blood and shuddering at the coppery taste.

"Right around here some - duck!" he shouted, shoving her to the ground and falling to the opposite side as a sword suddenly appeared in the space their heads used to occupy. Kíli rolled back to his feet, immediately lunging with his sword as the first orc appeared. It was joined moments later by two more, all of them grinning fiercely.

"Celia, get out of here, go!" he ordered, swinging at the first orc and ducking under the second one's counter-strike.

"I can help!" she protested, using the wall to push herself back up and drawing a dagger with a shaky hand.

"You can barely stand on your own! I can't fight if I'm worried about you!" he retorted, crying out as one of the orcs sliced across his arm. "Just go! Get out of here and find Elena!"

She wavered for a moment uncertainly, then turned away, knowing she couldn't do anything. Unless... she hastened further down the tunnel so she had enough room to escape if this went wrong, then turned around again and drew her bow. One of the orcs lay dead on the ground, but that left two for Kíli to fight, in addition to trying not to stumble over the body on the ground.

Drawing an arrow, she nocked it on the string and drew back, aiming for the orc farthest from Kíli in case her aim was off. Aiming carefully, she loosed it, smiling in relief when it hit the shoulder of the orc, sending it stumbling back and allowing Kíli to quickly dispatch it. That left him with just the one orc, and she felt confident he could handle it from there.

Stumbling down the hallway, she was much more cautious this time, checking each doorway and whispering her sister's name before continuing on. She had just stumbled out of the hallway into an open area when she heard it.

A whisper of her name.

"Elena? Is that you?" she called quietly, spinning slowly around the area when she heard it again, coming from the opposite wall, by the stairs leading up towards the frozen river. "Elena!"

A small lump she had previously disregarded stirred. "Celia?" The voice was weak, and punctuated by a harsh cough.

"Elena!" Disregarding her aching ribs, Celia practically flew across the courtyard to her sister, who lay on her side facing the wall. "Are you all right?"

Her sister coughed again, the harsh sound echoing in the courtyard, but didn't otherwise respond. Now very much alarmed, she reached out a hand and gently turned her sister onto her back. Almost immediately, she gasped and fell back, her hand coming up to her mouth as her eyes fell down to her sister's stomach.

And the large blood stain covering it, the sticky liquid still seeping from a large cut on her abdomen.

"Oh my gosh! Elena!" She scrambled forward, medical training kicking in as she did a quick assessment.

Breathing was shallow and rapid, heart rate was rapid, and she could only just get a weak pulse from her sister's wrist, which meant her blood pressure was dropping, most likely caused by blood loss. Her skin was pale and clammy, and the tips of her fingers were turning blue, all pointing towards one unavoidable conclusion.

Elena was bleeding to death, and most likely had been for some time.

"No! You're not allowed to die on me, Elena!" she cried, fresh tears pouring out as she used her knife to cut off part of her undershirt, deeming her tunic too dirty to touch the wound.

Bracing herself, she carefully lifted her sister's tunic to examine the wound. A large gash sliced across half her abdomen, fresh blood seeping out with every breath. An apology ready at the tip of her tongue, she balled up the ripped cloth and placed it across the wound and pressed down, wincing when her sister cried out, seeming to come back to awareness as the tunic was instantly stained red.

"I'm sorry, Elena, but I have to do this!" she said tearfully, keeping one hand to place pressure on the wound and using the other to awkwardly cut off another strip of cloth from her undershirt. Placing it atop the other, she kept the pressure on, using her free hand to carefully palpate her sister's abdomen below the wound. It was rigid and tense, and, given all her other symptoms, most likely a sign of internal bleeding. "Just hang on, Elena! We'll get you out of this somehow!"

"Celia! Elena!" Keeping her hands firmly on the cloths, she turned her head and saw Kíli limping towards her, sword in hand. When he got closer and saw Elena, he swore and turned away, closing his eyes and muttering something under his breath. Taking a deep breath, he crouched by her. "What do you need?"

Celia took a shaky breath and glanced over her sister. The cloths she had used for Elena were rapidly soaking through. "Uh... new bandages would be good. I just cut some off my undershirt. If you could cut off some, maybe we could slow the bleeding a bit. Otherwise..." she stifled a sob. "Otherwise all we can do is make her comfortable."

Kíli immediately went to work, dropping his sword and using her relatively cleaner dagger to slice off part of his undershirt, pressing it into her hands. "There has to be something you can do! You could save people from normally fatal wounds back in your world! You even did it to Fíli." His voice faltered. "He died, and you brought him back. Can't you do that here?"

She shook her head, swallowing hard. "We kept his heart beating for him, pumping the blood through his system until it started working on his own again. Elena... Elena doesn't have enough blood left. There'd be nothing to pump. Even back in our old world, with all the technological marvels, it would be too late to save her. There's literally nothing I can do."

He was silent, trying to take it all in. "What about the elves? They have their special healing skills. Your mother could help!"

"What?" she sniffed and raised her head to look at him. "My mother's not here, remember? She's back in our old world."

It was his turn to look concerned. "Celia... We all saw her just last night. I saw her fighting on the battlefield. She's here, why don't you remember that?"

She strained her memories, trying to come up with even a hint of a memory of her mother returning, but came up blank. "I don't know. But I have no knowledge of my mother being here."

"Shame you missed the browbeating she gave Thorin and Thranduil then," Kíli said lightly, though his hands trembled as he cut off another strip of his shirt. "It was beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen an elf look so ashamed in his life. Is this going to be enough cloth, or should I cut more?"

Celia lifted her hands slightly so he could wedge the cloth on top of the others, its edges quickly staining red. "I think... I think we've done all we can," she said weakly. "This is just slowing it down temporarily."

"Okay." He nodded once. "You said we could make her comfortable. How do we do that?" She glanced down at her hands, still pressing down the wound, and he laid his hands atop hers, giving them a quick squeeze for comfort. "I'll keep the pressure on. You help her."

She sniffed, nodding and slipping her hands out from under hers, flinching when she realized they were stained with her sister's blood. Wiping them on another loose cloth as best as she could, she crawled over to Elena's head and raised it enough to rest on her lap, stroking her face gently. She tried to be careful, but it was a useless effort, and Elena stirred a little and moaned.

"Elena? Elena, can you hear me?" she asked softly, swallowing down another sob.

Elena's eyes flickered open slightly, though her eyes were unfocused. "C'la?"

"I'm here," Celia choked out, trying to put on a smile.

"Wha... happ'n'd?"

"Nothing. Nothing's happened," Celia told her, stroking her hair a little too fast to be comforting. "You're just... tired, but you're fine, we're all fine."

"'M sleepy." Her breaths were growing further and further apart, and she had to struggle to open her eyes again after each blink. "C'la?"

"I'm here," Celia promised her again, tears filling her eyes and dripping down onto Elena's face.

The sensation seemed to startle her, and she mustered a bit of strength, eyes fully opening as she peered up at her sister with a look of weak concern. "Don' cry, Celia. Why are you crying?"

Celia words seemed to swell in her throat, choking her, and she couldn't speak, the tears falling silently down her face. Kíli nudged her arm to get her attention, and flicked his eyes to Elena's arm, where she was weakly lifting it in the air towards Celia, trying to impart some form of comfort. She grabbed it and lifted it to her face, brushing her lips against it before holding it against her cheek.

"I'm crying because the stars in my sky are going out, and I'm scared of the dark," she managed at last.

Elena coughed weakly, a soft smile gracing her pale lips. "I'm going to see Fíli, aren't I?"

Celia nodded, a sob slipping out. Elena's fingers curled against her cheek, and she strained to reach her other hand out to Kíli. His own eyes red and swollen, he took it.

"Look after my sister when I can't?" she whispered, her voice losing strength.

He nodded, his voice hoarse. "I will, I swear it."

Elena glanced back up at her sister. "Looks like you've still got one bright star left to light your way," she breathed, her eyes slipping closed. Her ragged breathing and Celia's sobs were the only sound to fill the courtyard for a few minutes. "L'v you," she slurred weakly, her voice nearly inaudible. Her raspy breaths slowed, then stopped, her hand going limp in her sister's.

"Elena?" Celia whimpered, refusing to let her hand fall. "Elena?" Her voice grew more hysterical each time she repeated her plea. "Elena, wake up. It's not funny, Elena, wake up! Please, wake up!"

A hand was placed on her shoulder, and she shook it off, tears pouring down her cheeks as she bent over her sister and began to sob, feeling something rip itself out of her heart and leave a gaping chasm in its place.

 _"Celia!"_ The hand was placed on her shoulder again. She shook it off again, not wanting to look at Kíli, not then. _"Celia, wake up!"_

Her sobs stopped hesitantly as the voice faintly registered in some part of her brain. It wasn't Kíli, but he would have warned her if anyone else was coming.

 _"Celia, you're dreaming, wake up! Just open your eyes!"_

'My eyes are open,' she wanted to argue, except she found that they weren't; that they were closed, and suddenly all she could see around her was the darkness. Elena was gone, and so was Kíli.

And it scared her, because she was alone, and so she tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't. She was blind and alone, and she couldn't even open her eyes to see.

" _Celia, I'm right here, just please, open your eyes!_ " So she tried again, straining against the darkness, even though her lids suddenly felt so heavy -

And her eyes flew open.

She almost panicked at first, when she saw the figure hovering over her in the darkened room. But then her eyes adjusted, and she could make them out.

She nearly cried when she realized it was Elena - safe, unharmed, and so, so alive - but then her sister reached down and wiped a few tears off her cheeks, and realized she was crying anyways.

"Why are you crying?" her sister asked her softly.

Celia sat up and hugged her sister, burying her face in her neck.

"Because I realized just how bright my sky is."

* * *

 **A/N: Man, this chapter was a doozy to write. So much planning, so much research. (Anyone looking through my search history would probably be concerned at the number of stabbing-related searches I've done). Also, I had to watch Fíli's death scene like three times for this, and I hated it each time, but it had to be done. This chapter/dream sequence actually is fairly relevant later on, so I hope I don't leave anyone too confused.**

 **This is my first time writing an actual death scene, so I hope I did all right. It was simultaneously easier and harder than I thought it would be.**

 **And, heads-up for y'all: This is not how the actual battle/any death scenes are going to be done. So no spoilers on who's gonna live or die.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to PhoenixLordess, MissCallaLilly, Child of Dreams, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, and E for reviewing! :)**

 _ **PhoenixLordess: Thorin will be getting something all right! ;D And 'poor Kíli' is right! It's not going to be getting better from here, unfortunately. But there will definitely be some revelations (aka, confessing the truth) next time, along with some brainstorming. All while working together, of course, because why wouldn't they, lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **MissCallaLilly: Thanks! And as for Elena's and Fíli's possible obsessions... makes for some interesting hypotheses, no? Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: Hey look, there Laurel is! Mentioned on the battlefield, in a dream! (LOL, actually she's probably hunting me down for everything I'm putting her poor daughters through. No regrets, though!) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! ;D**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yeah. Thorin's obsession is literally his obsession. His care factor for other things is basically zero, if they have no influence on the object of his obsession. Should he get better (and survive BOFA) he's going to have a lot of apologizing and making-up to do. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! (Though it doesn't seem like Celia was able to get much of a restful sleep. It's probably going to be meaningful later on, but what do I know, I'm just the author) Elena and Fíli are finally back, and next chapter should hopefully have them starting to work together as a team to tackle the problem known as BOFA. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **E: I think Laurel is an excellent choice to kick their behinds. She's been planning it for a while, you guys have been wanting it for a while... it's coming. (and, I hope, it'll be what you all want). And Kíli has had to be strong for Celia, but now his brother and Elena are there to help out, so things might start looking up for our favorite dwarf prince. (Or they might not... it's gonna be a while yet before Thorin gets over himself). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 **Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	54. Chapter 54 - What Dreams May Come

~~ Elena ~~

Elena tugged her sister to her feet once it seemed like she wasn't about to burst into tears at any minute. Carefully stepping over the sleeping bodies of their friends in the dim morning light, she grabbed a few blankets and led her twin out of the guardroom and through the tunnel until they came to the large hall Kíli had shown them earlier, where they'd tried to trap Smaug beneath a wave of gold which now adorned the floor below them. Large rocks from the ruined walls and second floor marred the reflective surface, and scorch marks were everywhere.

Smaug had not been kind to the hall of their ancestors.

Once she decided that they were far enough away, she pulled her sister up the stairs to the second level looking down on the floor below and set up a blanket on the floor, settling down on it. She patted the spot beside her, and her confused-looking sister plopped down, but quickly curled into her, traces of tears still swimming in her green eyes.

"What are we doing, Elena?" she asked, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

Elena coaxed her sister to rest her head on her shoulder, covering her with another blanket and rubbing her back soothingly. Her eyes were still drooping with heaviness, but that paled in comparison to the ache in her heart when she'd woken up to see her sister crying in her sleep, face twisted in pain.

"We have privacy here, Cel," she whispered. "We're far enough away that no one can hear us unless we make a lot of noise, and they're all asleep anyways. You can say whatever you like here, all the things you couldn't say earlier."

"Elena?" Her sister's voice was weak and shaky.

"Yeah, Cel?" Elena answered softly, brushing a strand of hair out of her face with her good arm. Her other rested fairly uselessly on her lap.

Celia sniffled, sounding close to tears once again. "I want Mom." A shaky breath indicated the start of the tears she'd been holding back. "It - it's been two years since we've seen her, Elena. You said she might be coming back soon, but we don't know when. It could still be years down the line, but I need her now."

She swallowed thickly, tears clouding her voice. "We can't handle this on our own. I thought we could, but we can't. You and Fíli almost died, Thorin's almost completely lost to the gold sickness, we can't talk to Bilbo about this, Kíli and I are getting sick too, the Battle of Five Armies is coming up, and I'm having nightmares about us dying every night!"

Elena stared at her sister with wide eyes as she ranted, but nodded slowly, acknowledging the truth of it. "Yeah. I miss Mom too." Her voice wavered, but she quickly forced it to be calm and steady again. She had to be strong this time for her sister. "But you can't give up hope that she'll be back soon. Thranduil said as much, and I think it'll be soon, too. And I'm alive, and so is Fíli. Thorin may be sick now, but we can't lose hope that he'll be able to get over it. Bilbo's not sick, and we can talk to him at least a little bit. I know he's worried about us both.

"And even if you and Kíli are getting sick, you still seem to have your priorities straight, for the most part. Sure, you might be focused more on the others, but you were like that before, too. This just highlights it. You're still worried about the others, about taking care of them. You haven't lost sight of everything like Thorin and the others have. We can't do anything about the Battle just yet, but I do think it might be a good idea to let Fíli and Kíli know at least a little bit about what's supposed to happen. They can give us a fresh perspective and some ideas."

She hugged her sister to her a little tighter. "As for the nightmares... I don't think I can do anything about those. I've been having them too. Was having one, actually, as you woke me up, so thanks for that, I guess. Wasn't very pleasant."

Celia buried her head in her sister's shoulder. "You died," the mutter came out muffled by her tunic and Elena froze. "Fíli was killed, and then I found you in the ruins, bleeding to death, and I had to watch you die."

"The sky," Elena whispered in shock.

Celia lifted her head from Elena's shoulder, eyes red-rimmed and sleepy. "What?"

Elena looked down at her twin, fear and curiosity warring in her gaze. "When you woke up, you said your sky was bright." Celia nodded wordlessly, unsure where she was going with this. "But... you said your sky was going dark when I was dying. Because Fíli had died, and then me... the lights were going out. And I told you that you had Kíli, so there was still some brightness left."

Celia sat up straight, swiping at her eyes to clear them. "How did I look?" she demanded, eyes narrowing.

Elena frowned, pulling up her memories of the dream. "Your mouth was all cut and bruised, and you had some bruises on your forehead, and you were favoring your ribs, I think. Kíli was with you, and he held my hand as I died." She shook her head. "This is ridiculous. Just because our dreams were similar doesn't mean anything. It's a coincidence, that's all."

Celia didn't look very convinced, tugging the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "In Erebor, where Smaug resided for over a hundred years? With an army of orcs and wargs approaching? And with the ring -" she hesitated. "Bilbo's magical ring," she amended. "I don't think we can pass this off as just pure coincidence, El. What did you dream about the night before this?"

Elena fiddled with a loose stone on the ground, trying to remember. "Uh, I dreamed that Azog took you and I captive. He knew that we were randir, and said his master would be very interested in finding out what we knew." She shuddered. "I was glad that Fíli woke me up shortly after that. It wasn't very pleasant."

"Azog used us against each other," Celia continued in a small voice. "He would get us to comply by threatening the other. He told us that while it was preferable that we both survive, he really only needed one alive. It didn't take long to learn that he would follow through on his threats, and that neither of us were very good at withstanding the pain. Kíli had to place his hand over my mouth to get me to stop screaming before we attracted Thorin's attention."

Elena looked away. "So then... I woke up before you. I didn't get to see the end of the dream."

"It doesn't matter," Celia said in a dull voice. "It was the same as the ending of this dream. And the one before that. One of us dies, usually in a horrible way at the hands of the orcs. And all somehow related to the Battle of Five Armies."

"That doesn't matter," Elena said firmly. "Just because we're having bad dreams about an upcoming battle doesn't mean that they're going to come true. I get bad dreams all the time. Do you remember the time I had the recurring nightmare in sixth grade about forgetting my speech homework on the last day, when we had that big speech to give, and I had nothing? It made me scared that I was going to fail for a month, but I remembered my homework and ended up getting an A."

"But we had the same dream, Elena," Celia whispered, snuggling back up against her. "That can't be a coincidence, not now."

"We know there are several objects around us that are both evil, and capable of manipulating people," Elena reminded her. "Or have been influenced to be that way by a dragon. I'm sure they'd like nothing more than to rattle us."

"Well, consider me rattled," Celia complained, shutting her eyes and pulling her blanket up to her chin, as if she could shut out the outside world that way. "I much preferred it when my dreams didn't make any sense, and all I dreamed about was eating hot dogs that turned into donuts, upon which I started flying using my tennis shoes."

"Even if it was intended as a warning, it's still just a dream," Elena said determinedly. "And dreams don't determine our actions, we do. If I die, it's going to be because it's my time to die, not because some stupid dream said that I would. It's probably just a side effect of us being worried about the upcoming battle. Our minds are stressed from trying to find a way around the deaths, and that's the way they're choosing to deal with it."

"What upcoming battle?"

Elena and Celia froze, then slowly turned as one to meet the concerned eyes of Fíli, and his brother just behind him, sleep still clouding his eyes but becoming more alert by the second.

Elena cast her sister a sheepish look. "Whoops."

* * *

 **A/N: So, I'm not 100% positive of this at the moment, but I think I'll be switching to updating on Wednesdays from now instead of Tuesdays, as that gives me a little bit more time to write, and I have more free time on Wednesdays than I do on Tuesdays. So don't be surprised if I update on Tuesday next week, but also please don't freak out if I end up not updating until Wednesday.**

 **And I'm sorry this chapter couldn't be longer. I ended up losing a lot of time today (from work and otherwise) because I spent over two hours waiting at the Doctor's office for what was, in the end, a 20 minute procedure (that will leave me limping for a few days. Yay. :P ) It's left me in a bit of pain, easily distracted, and wiped out, which means this chapter is missing quite a bit of what I originally intended to add to it, unfortunately, and is more of a filler until the next bit. (Which is - finally - explanations regarding Smaug, BoFA, and, possibly, the Arkenstone.) On the bright side, hopefully everything will be gone and done with by next week!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed (we are now officially over 100 favorites! Thank you all so much!) and shout-out to PhoenixLordess, Tibblets, ColdOnePaul, Outofthisworldgal, Gyuchin, Lady Silverstar2, the lil witch, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **PhoenixLordess: Aww, thanks. I'm glad my first death scene wasn't awful, lol. Mama Bear Laurel is coming - but she didn't arrive in Erebor, unfortunately, so she's got some traveling to do first, before she can come storming in. But when she does... let's just say that arrows are involved.**_ _ **Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed it! :)**_

 _ **Tibblets: Thanks! I was trying to make it a bit different than normal, so it's nice to know I succeeded. :D**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: No, no time-skip, lol. (at least, not yet) I'm glad to hear that you thought it was realistic! (that's what I was going for) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Haha, I wasn't very nice to Celia there, I will admit that. No skipped chapters, just an author with a wonky imagination. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Gyuchin: Thanks! Glad it wasn't super hard to read/confusing. Thanks for your well wishes, too! They are much appreciated (and needed.) Hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Aww, thank you! Is it bad to say that in a weird way, I'm glad that you cried? (not because you were in pain, of course, but because it meant that my writing was able to evoke that sort of response? Personally, that's one of the best rewards I, as a writer, can get, if that makes sense). Laurel is coming, and there will be arrows involved. ;D And I promise that whoever survives will somehow get a happily ever after that will be so sappy and fluffy you'll want me to kill them off anyways lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **the lil witch: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **E: Well, I probably won't make any more nightmares like that, if it's any consolation. Not in that depth of detail, or length. But... the Battle of Five Armies is coming up, and it's not going to be pretty, unfortunately. (Don't worry. Anyone who survives will get a sappy, fluffy, happily ever after sooner or later.) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	55. Chapter 55 - The Fall of Lake-town

~~ Celia ~~

Celia averted her eyes as the two princes came to sit down across from them. "I don't suppose we can just pass this off as our most recent nightmare?"

Kíli raised an eyebrow. "Our? And no. Sorry. I've heard too many hints alluding to this to believe that."

"Yeah, I've heard a few along that line, too," Fíli added, narrowing his eyes at Elena, who resolutely refused to meet his. "But what do you mean, 'our?' Does that have anything to do with the nightmares you've been having the last few days?"

Celia and her twin exchanged glances, trying to figure it out without giving anything else away beforehand. At last she shrugged and gave in. "We were just talking about this. Maybe they'll be able to help. Or at least have some sort of idea to offer. But I think they should know."

Elena shrugged back, wrinkling her nose. "I guess." She shifted on her seat, wincing when her left arm brushed up against the blanket. She rubbed it lightly with her good arm, then sighed, looking Fíli and Kíli in the eyes for the first time that morning. "Celia and I have been sharing dreams." She hesitated, and then amended, "We think."

Kíli frowned, his dark eyes curious. "And not good dreams, I'm guessing, considering how little sleep Celia's gotten this week? And, possibly, about this upcoming battle?"

Elena nodded. "Usually one of us dies in some form of battle. Sometimes alone, sometimes with others. This morning, it was me and Fíli who were killed by orcs, while Celia and Kíli were forced to watch. Yesterday, I dreamed that Azog found out who we were and captured us. He said that his master would want to know about us."

"I remember that," Fíli interrupted in a low voice, his gaze distant. "I had to wake you up when you started thrashing, and you said it was something about being taken prisoner with Celia."

Elena looked away. "Yeah, Azog wasn't very nice. But that wasn't the worst of it. I woke up before Celia."

"It just got worse from there," Celia whispered, images and whispers of the dream flitting through her mind. "He used us against each other to get what he wanted, then killed me. Kíli had to forcibly stop me from screaming before we attracted Thorin's attention."

"How long has this been going on?" Kíli interrupted, looking between the two sisters. "It can't have been before we were separated, or we would have figured it out sooner."

Celia shrugged, picking at a loose thread in her blanket. "I don't know. I mean, I had one the night before we left Lake-town, where I got captured by Smaug. But I didn't have any more nightmares after that until right after Smaug attacked Lake-town. I dreamed that Fíli drowned, and that Elena got..." She shifted uncomfortably, eyes resolutely focused on the blanket. "Eaten," she mumbled at last. "That was the first one I noticed, and it just got worse from there. They didn't stop after that."

Elena and Fíli stiffened, the blood draining from Elena's face. Kíli was the first to notice, and he narrowed his eyes at them. "What?"

Elena swallowed hard. "I thought it was just a regular nightmare, completely understandable after what had happened. But... Celia, what I dreamed that night... was what almost happened. I did almost get - killed," she managed with difficulty, "by the dragon. Fíli did almost drown. But if you dreamed it too..."

"But what does that mean?" Celia complained, fiddling with the end of her braid. "Everything else I've dreamed since then was about the battle. Why did we dream about Lake-town?"

"Maybe they're related," Kíli said slowly, trying to figure it out. "It might help if we knew what actually happened first. We can see what changed, and then, if you tell us - at least a little bit - about this upcoming battle, maybe we can use it to see a possible connection."

Elena exchanged a glance with Fíli, who nodded encouragingly. "They should know anyways. You knew we were going to have to talk about it at some point."

She scowled. "Fine. But you might have to take over for me near the end."

"That's fair," he agreed. "I can tell them what I remember."

Celia shuffled closer to Kíli as her sister took a deep breath, noticing unhappily how pale Elena had gotten when she'd mentioned Smaug. Given how neither Elena nor Fíli seemed eager to talk about it, and how they had reacted to her dream... It was most likely not going to be a fun experience.

"So, I guess we should start when you guys left for Lake-town," Elena began. "We went to Bard's for help, since neither of us exactly wanted to go to the Master. We told him the gist of what was going to happen, and that Smaug was going to attack Lake-town, and that we needed to evacuate. And unfortunately, in order for that to work, we had to go to the Master's mansion and make a deal with him. We promised him some gold in exchange for the evacuation of Lake-town."

"All heavily worded to imply that he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart, and not because he was a greedy fool, of course" Fíli added sarcastically.

"Then he did his best to keep us in his mansion, or otherwise in his sights at all times," Elena sighed. "We were followed by one of his guards when we helped out in the evacuation, and we had to spend the night at his mansion that night." She shuddered. "I placed the bed in front of the door as a precaution, and slept on the floor with my dagger out, and it's a good thing I did. I woke up sometime before the sun rose with someone trying to get into my room."

She nodded at Celia's gasp and Kíli's dark look. "Yeah. I scared off whoever it was with my dagger, but I didn't sleep for the rest of the night. We were followed wherever we went, and we also found out that the Master was holding Bard's children hostage. My guess is that he was threatening to not let them be evacuated along with the rest of Lake-town if Bard didn't do what he said."

"What?" Celia cried. "He was - Ugh!" She tugged on her braid in frustration. "Now I wish he was here, if just so I could put an arrow through him!"

"It gets worse," Fíli informed her. "He found out that Elena was a randir." He nodded at their exclamations. "Apparently one of his guards broke into their house while Bard was evacuating some of the citizens and threatened his youngest daughter with a knife if she didn't tell him everything she knew about her. And she'd overheard enough to know that Elena was a wanderer, as they called it, and gave it up."

"Was she all right?" Kíli asked darkly, hands clenched into fists. "Did the son of an orc hurt her?"

Elena shook her head. "Thankfully not. Just scared her. We came up with a way to sneak her onto the evacuation boat the same way we got in - swam through the lake and came up somewhere else. Then we found out the even better news. Despite the fact that we had promised to pay gold to make up for them evacuating, he was charging everyone a high price to get on the boats. None of the poor people were allowed on if they didn't have the money."

"We managed to sneak a couple families on, but we knew that we couldn't go back to the Master's mansion," Fíli added. "So we found a house that'd been temporarily abandoned and bunked there for the night. The next morning, we were able to help with one more boat trip before we found ourselves being followed again.

"We split up, but Alfrid - the Master's greedy right-hand man - took me by surprise and tripped me. One of his guards hit me with a board, and pushed me into the water while I was stunned." He shook his head. "The only reason I survived was because Óin had been keeping an eye on me, and managed to pull me out once they had left."

"What?" Kíli scrambled closer to his brother, looking him up and down for any signs of hurt. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, nadadith," Fíli assured him. "Óin checked me over, and he doesn't think there was any permanent damage. He said I didn't even have a concussion."

"You didn't then," Elena grumbled. "Just wait a few hours."

"Thanks a lot, Elena," Fíli muttered, pushing Kíli gently away with one hand. "I told you, Kee, I'm fine. I'm right here, aren't I? Just listen to the rest of the story."

"I still want to look you over after this," Celia warned him. "But in the meantime, I want to hear what happened to Elena. Because I know something did."

"All right, fine," Elena surrendered grumpily. "I got caught by the Master's guards and dragged before him when I got lost. Kicked him in the shin when I saw him, and nearly dislocated his kneecap, though, so that made it a little better."

Kíli winced, but Celia snorted and shook her head. "Wish I could have been there to see that. But... what did he do in return? I don't think he would have let you get away with that."

"He didn't," Elena confirmed. "If you remember the one guard that grabbed me back when we tried robbing the armory, he was there. Grabbed me by my bad arm, of course, and hauled me off to a private boat where he planned to take off and leave the people of Lake-town on their own. He informed me that he planned on selling me to the highest bidder, and sent off the rest of his guards to load up his boat with treasure so he could leave as rich as ever."

Celia frowned thoughtfully. "Fíli? What are the possible political ramifications of shooting the leader of a nearby city? It doesn't even have to be a fatal wound. Like, what if he were to be accidentally shot in the knee, or something?"

Fíli smirked. "You know, Elena asked me something along those same lines when we were in Lake-town. Either way, it doesn't really matter now."

"What do you mean?" Kíli asked, leaning forward. "Did something happen to him?"

Elena shrugged. "I may or may not have stabbed him..." She smiled when Celia and Kíli just stared at her. "What? He was bothering me."

Kíli scooted away from her a few inches. "I hereby apologize for any time I may have annoyed you inadvertently. Please don't stab me."

Celia patted him on the knee comfortingly. "Don't worry, Kíli. She likes you too much to actually stab you. She'd probably just push you off a rampart or something if you really annoyed her."

"You know, for a healer, your bedside manner really isn't much more comforting than Óin's sometimes," Kíli informed her dryly, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He turned back to Elena. "But I think we're still missing part of the story. Please, continue."

Elena shrugged. "There's not a whole lot more to that part. I threw a gold candelabra at the guard and managed to stun him, which left me facing a very irate Master. He pulled out a dagger, I pulled out one, and we both proved how absolutely awful we are at using a dagger. He managed to reopen the cut on my arm, which was awesome, by the way, and I stabbed him in the gut. I think it was more of an accident than anything, but it gave me time to jump overboard and get away, so I'm not complaining. Then Óin found me, and brought us back to Bard's house, where we managed to regroup."

"What happened next?" Celia asked when Elena didn't continue.

"Smaug attacked that night," Fíli answered quietly in her place. "We were still in Bard's house when we heard a faint sound coming from the Lonely Mountain. We figured then that Smaug was awake. Óin stayed with us to keep an eye on Sigrid, Bard's oldest daughter, while Bofur went with Bard and Bain to try and get the Black Arrow - which Bard apparently had in his possession all along - up to the tower that had the wind lance on it."

"Did the orcs attack?" Celia asked hesitantly.

Fíli stared at her in surprise and concern. "Orcs? What orcs? No, we saw no sign of them while we were there. Were there supposed to be?"

Celia shook her head. "No." She hesitated. "Yes. Maybe. I don't know, but apparently not," she said at last in frustration. "In one version of events, several orcs sent by Azog infiltrated Lake-town in an attempt to wipe out the dwarves if they were still there, I think. It's been a while. So you're saying that you saw none of them?" she asked her sister.

Elena shook her head. "Didn't see a hair of 'em. No sign of Legolas or Tauriel, either."

"Legolas? Tauriel? The elves that took us prisoner in Mirkwood?" Fíli frowned. "Why would they have been there?"

Elena hesitated, glancing over at Kíli, who stared back at her in confusion. "This happened in the version of events where Kíli got shot with the poisoned arrow instead of me. In that scenario, while they originally came to hunt down the orcs, Tauriel stayed behind temporarily to heal Kíli. If she hadn't, he likely would have died that night before Smaug ever reached them."

Fíli paled, glancing over at his little brother, who rolled his eyes back at him. "I didn't get shot, remember, _nadad_? I wasn't even in Mirkwood with you when you made your escape. And clearly Elena didn't get hit with a poisoned arrow if she's still here now and those elves never showed up to heal it."

"At any rate," Elena interrupted, "we saw no sign of either the orcs or the elves. Once we saw Smaug - or the flash of gold and red that meant him, at any rate - leave the mountain, we knew we only had a matter of minutes before he reached us. Fíli and I took off to try and help Bard just in case, and told Óin and Sigrid to try and find a boat, if they could, to try and get outside of the town limits. That's where Smaug's main focus was going to be."

"It didn't take long for him to reach us," Fíli took over quietly, his gaze distant as he remembered the sight. "A giant dragon, roaring in rage and burning everything in sight. Half the town was up in flames within minutes. People were screaming, and running, and buildings were falling down..." He stopped, Celia and Kíli waiting patiently as he gathered his thoughts, both of them remembering their own run-in with the dragon.

"We were trying to find Bard and the tower, and everyone else - almost everyone else," he amended, "was trying to to get out, and everything was burning around us... It was chaos." He sighed. "We had jumped onto a porch to avoid a broken dock when part of the roof collapsed, and I got buried under the rubble, with a beam trapping me there. It didn't hurt me much, and might even have saved my life by diverting the heavier pieces from crushing me," he added hastily, trying - and failing - to assuage Celia and Kíli's concerns. "But it fell on my legs, and I couldn't move it in time, and I was dazed by the fall, which didn't help matters any."

"In time for what?" Kíli asked quietly, shifting so his arm rested against his brother's.

Elena swallowed hard. "The Master was there, and he was armed with a sword this time, while I still had only the one dagger. I thought Fíli was dead; there was virtually no way anyone could have survived that much weight falling on them, and there was no time to check. But if he had survived, he wouldn't be able to defend himself from the Master. I had to lead him away from Fili."

Kíli closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead while Celia groaned. "Tell me you didn't."

"It gets worse," Fíli assured her. "Bard had apparently been imprisoned by the Master, but managed to break out somehow - I never got the details, but I think Bofur helped him. Together, they and Bain managed to get the Black Arrow to the tower with the wind lance, but they never got the chance to fire it. They could see where Smaug was missing a scale, but he never exposed himself enough for them to actually hit him."

"On the bright side, I didn't have to worry about anyone else trying to hunt me down," Elena commented, trying to add a little bit of levity. "Literally everyone else was trying to escape. I think... I think the Master must have had the gold sickness. Like what you guys told me about. Where he lost sight of everything, except for what he was obsessed with. In this case - increasing his wealth, never mind that there's a live dragon running around."

"Which, might I add, was also after you," Fíli interjected. "Apparently he caught Celia's scent up at the mountain, and was able to figure out that there were two of you, and that you were in Lake-town. Or he caught Elena's scent in town, and figured it out that way. Regardless, he was yelling something about the world-walker when I saw him. He was also blind in one eye - I'm assuming that was thanks to you?" he addressed Celia and Kíli. They nodded, but didn't speak.

"Yeah, it was a little terrifying," Elena admitted. "There's nothing like having a freaking dragon out for your blood - literally. But I had no time to figure out what to do, because I also had a madman behind me, determined that if he couldn't have me, then no one could, and if that's not creepy, I don't know what is."

"So... what'd you do?" Celia asked nervously, digging her nails into her palm so that she didn't subconsciously reach out for someone - whether Elena or Kíli, she wasn't sure.

Elena sighed, glancing at Fíli. He raised his eyebrows at her, clearly offering no help to her. "I decided to give him what he wanted," she mumbled, picking at a spot on her boot.

Celia frowned, not getting it. "You... decided to give yourself up to the Master? Why?"

"Not the Master," Elena hedged, still not looking either of them in the eye.

Kíli, however, caught on much faster, his eyes widening. "Tell me you didn't, Elena," he pleaded. "Please, tell me you didn't."

"She did," Fíli informed him with a long-suffering air.

"Did what?" Celia interrupted in annoyance. "What am I missing?"

Elena groaned, running her hand through her hair. "Before Fíli got trapped, I noticed that they were having trouble getting Smaug within their sights on the tower. By the time the Master started chasing me, most of the town was on fire. Dead bodies were... everywhere. Children, too. One little girl..."

Her voice caught as her eyes glazed over in memory. "One little girl, couldn't have been more than four or five, was trapped in a house. I could see her through the window. She was crying out for help. She looked right at me, and cried out again. The next minute, the entire building was burning in Smaug's most recent burning spree. The roof caved in in less than a minute."

The group was quiet while Elena tried to subtly wipe at her eyes. When it seemed like she was more in control, Fíli spoke up. "You never told me that," he said softly, no hint of rebuke in his voice.

Elena shrugged, not looking up from the ground. "Yeah. Never really came up, I guess. But... it... it made me angry enough that I had to do something to stop him, whatever it took. So, uh... when I found a house that had an upstairs balcony and was in front of the tower, I took the chance and ran for it. I made it all the way upstairs and out before the Master even reached the downstairs door, but I was close enough to catch Smaug's attention."

She shuddered. "He couldn't see me at first, but he could smell me. And when I saw a large drop of dark blood splash to the ground in front of me... I knew he was right above me. It was exactly like a horror movie, Cel. You hear the splash, and you look up, just knowing that the monster, whatever it is, is right above you, or behind you. And... he was. He was right above me, crawling over the houses in that row. One of his eyes was dripping blood, and left dark splashes on broken pieces of lumber every so often. He was searching for me, I think. Narrowing down my scent. Flaming all the houses around to try and drive me out."

She snorted, shaking her head softly as the memories she'd tried to smother came back. "Of course, that's when the Master started shouting for me. In all honesty, I think Smaug coming drove him over the bend into complete lunacy, because that caught Smaug's attention, and he came back around looking for the 'world-walker', and it didn't slow the Master down in the slightest. He came charging up the stairs, sword in hand, and eyes glazed with greed. And all I had was the one dagger left. But that didn't really matter, because Smaug had caught sight of me then."

"That was how I found her," Fíli interjected, his face expressionless. Celia saw his eyes though, and was taken aback at all the emotions there. He was practically swimming in guilt and anger. "Trapped on a roof between Smaug and the Master. He taunted her, mentioned Celia to throw her off guard. He didn't seem too interested in playing with her for long, though. It was barely a minute before..." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, struggling to find the words.

"He tried to eat me," Elena finished emotionlessly.

Celia gasped, the blood draining from her face. "What?" Unable to completely process the thought, her hands fell limply to her sides as her mind stumbled over the five word sentence over and over again, jerking to a halt each time she came to the end.

"He started to flame as he lunged at her, and that's when several different things happened at once," Fíli said at last, counting them off on his fingers as he enumerated them. "The flames below had been burning at the supports beneath the balcony for a while now, and they started to give way; the Master lunged forward in an attempt to grab or kill Elena; and the entire house began to collapse under just the bare minimum of Smaug's weight."

"I apparently was standing over one of the supports, and it gave way right as Smaug attacked," Elena took over, hand rubbing over her left arm. "I literally dropped out of sight, and left the Master right behind me."

Celia leaned back, her eyes widening as the implications sunk in. "No. Don't tell me - "

"The Master got eaten by a dragon," Elena said over her, humorous satisfaction and respect for the situation warring in her tone. "And I think Smaug choked on him a bit, too. Kind of wish I had been able to see it, but I hit my head on the bottom floor pretty hard, so I was fairly out of it."

She sighed. "There's not much to tell after that. Smaug caught sight of Bard from there, trying to get the Black Arrow set up, and went after him. Bard's a good shot. He was able to hit Smaug in the part with no scale, and drove it in a good five to six feet. I'm guessing you guys saw him fall?"

Kíli nodded. "It was pretty hard to miss, actually. There's just something about a giant dragon falling from the sky that catches your attention." He smirked and dodged when Elena tried to smack him with her good hand, shrugging at her unrepentantly. "What? You can't say that it's not true!"

"So, what happened to you two?" Celia asked Fíli, ignoring Elena and Kíli with the ease of long practice. "Like, how'd you get out from under that beam? What happened to Elena on the floor? And what really happened to her arm to make it so sensitive?" She fixed him with a stern glare. Kíli - always keeping an ear out towards her these days - caught the tone in her voice and sat up straight, unsure what her point was. "Because the way she's been guarding it indicates a sensitivity that isn't normal for the fairly simple cut that she got should be, unless it got infected. _But_ you probably would have told me that already, which means that this is probably something a bit more serious. So. What is it?"

The faint smile fell from her sister's face and she sighed, her eyes meeting Fíli's. He nodded at her encouragingly, and her shoulders slumped in surrender. "Fine. It's not pretty, but it's not going to kill me either. Óin already checked it out," she muttered, rolling the loose sleeve on her left arm up to her shoulder. A thick bandage was wrapped around her bicep, and she started unrolling it with some difficulty.

"That's not..." Celia's voice died as she caught sight of her sister's arm.

The cut was now a thin dark line, as if it had been burned shut, but that wasn't what had drawn her attention. A wide ring of angry red skin and blisters wrapped around her bicep, with smaller burns scattered around it, as if a burning liquid had been spilled on her skin and splattered.

Beside her, Kíli sucked in a breath. "Elena, what...?"

Elena let out a small, slightly bitter laugh. "Turns out breathing fire isn't dragons' only threat. Their blood is highly caustic as well. When Smaug ate the Master, he still had his sword out, which must have cut something in his mouth, or maybe it came from his eye. I don't know. Either way, when Smaug reared back to head for Bard, another drop of blood fell and landed on my arm, burning it. Obviously, my immediate instinct was to roll and get it off, but all that did was spread it around and make it worse until Fíli showed up, and was able to carefully dry it off with a piece of torn cloth."

"I thought she was dead at first," Fíli admitted, helping her wrap the bandage - which upon closer inspection had some sort of ointment or past smeared into it - back on her arm. "I didn't see her fall, and I was honestly afraid that Smaug had heard me shout, and was going to go after me next. When he didn't, I took off for the porch, and found her trying frantically to get the blood off. I helped her as best as I could, then got her off the still-burning porch onto some slightly more stable ground in time to see Bard hit Smaug in the chest with the arrow."

He shook his head in disbelief. "It's still rather hard to believe. A single arrow, and Smaug, chiefest and greatest of calamities, with claws like spears and wings like a hurricane... was dead."

* * *

 **A/N: Whoo! We finally have (most of) the story on Smaug dying, and what went down in Lake-town! We should be picking up the rest of it next week. (And will hopefully finally be starting to get back to longer chapters, although it is likely to remain on a Wednesday updating schedule for the remainder of this semester).**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, PhoenixLordess, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, RedBear5, Moore4control, and E for reviewing!**

 _ **Child of Dreams: Well, you know, she didn't exactly end up in Lake-town - it's gonna take her a while to reach Erebor. For all you know, she could have wound up in Rivendell instead of Mirkwood. In which case we'd be seeing her in several months. (Hint: She didn't. She'll show up in due time). Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! (even if Laurel's late to the show)**_

 _ **PhoenixLordess: I'm glad you liked it! And thanks for being understanding! I might have to switch to updating on Wednesdays this semester, as I'll have more free time on those days than Tuesdays, but we'll see. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yep. Elena was more focused on calming her sister down than focusing on the possible outcomes - at least, until Celia mentioned dreaming what almost actually happened in Lake-town. Maybe she'll pay a bit more attention now... ;D And Fíli and Kíli are finally going to be brought into the loop - depending on how much Elena and Celia feel is safe to tell them - and whether or not Thorin interrupts them. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: I'm glad that you were able to connect with the events of the last couple chapters! (There should be more to come, what with BoFA on the way and all) Yeah, they're not going to be able to explain away the battle - Fíli and Kíli aren't going to let them, even if they did get temporarily sidetracked by explaining what happened in Lake-town. I am starting to feel better, so thanks for your prayers, they were both needed and appreciated! Hopefully, starting with this chapter, things might start to get a little longer from now on. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **RedBear5: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, lol. I thought it appropriate, given who Fíli is, and who he's related to. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **Moore4Control: Yay! I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the compliments! I'm always glad to hear that people like my work! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story! :)**_

 _ **E: I am on the road to getting better, thank you. :) Elena and Celia did get caught, and, try as they might, Fíli and Kíli are not going to let them get out of it. Once they're no longer focused on the past events of Lake-town, they have lots of explaining to do. Should prove interesting. ;) Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	56. Chapter 56 - Lost and Found

~~ Elena ~~

"So what happened next?" Kíli asked, dark eyes flitting between Elena and his brother.

Elena shrugged, tugging her sleeve back down her arm. "The usual post-dragon-death stuff, I suppose. Fíli bandaged up my arm as best as he could in the chaos, then we went around trying to help any survivors. Even though we'd managed to evacuate most of the town to near the edge of Mirkwood's borders, there were still a lot of people trapped and hurt."

"So where are they now?" Celia frowned. "Did they bring the survivors to Mirkwood with the rest, or did they go to the remains of Dale like in the book?"

"Yes," Elena answered, grinning at her sister's exasperated look. "I think they brought most of the injured people to Mirkwood's borders, but Bard was planning on bringing most of the healthy men with him to Dale when we left."

She looked down, weighing her next words before she said them. "He decided on that for two reasons. The first, is to ask Thorin for the gold Lake-town was promised for helping them - and the gold we promised for evacuating Lake-town, I suppose," she added. "And the second... the second is because I warned him that he was going to need all able-bodied men and then some for the upcoming battle."

Kíli sighed, rubbing his forehead where it looked like a headache was starting to form. "Okay. Ignoring the second part of that sentence for now, we're still in trouble. The way he is now, I doubt Thorin's going to want to part with any of his gold, promised to another or not."

Celia looked up at him contemplatively. "It's like what you told me a few days ago. People with the gold sickness forget all their morals when it might cost them whatever they're possessive about. Because Thorin's obsessed with his gold, he's not going to care about any oath he might have made previously until he gets over it."

"Yeah, but was that just because of the gold sickness, or was that because of Thranduil?" Elena interjected. "Remember? He came down and made everything worse."

Fíli held his hands up in the air. "Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me now Thranduil's going to come down?" When Celia sheepishly nodded, he groaned and rested his face in his hands. "Is there anything else that's going to happen that we should know about? Like, say, another live dragon that's going to come out of nowhere and kill us all? Stars falling from the sky? Return of the dark lord?" Elena visibly hesitated and he held up a hand to stop her. "No. Just no," he deadpanned. "I'd like to pretend that the future is only partially bleak and not completely, thank you very much."

Elena snickered, patting him on the shoulder. "Sorry, Fíli. But don't you know that things always get worse before they get better?"

"Speaking of," Kíli interrupted them, "How much worse do things get? I know there's a battle, but how serious is it if it's something you're this worried about? Is Thranduil involved with it somehow? I think we need to know what actually happens. I know you can't tell us everything, but you said you could tell us this."

Elena sighed and looked over at her twin, trying to gauge her response. Celia bit her lip for a moment, thinking it over, then shrugged. "We did say that they should know," she pointed out.

"We did," Elena agreed. "But how much can we tell them? What about Ravenhill?"

"We can tell them about Azog, and what happens to get them there," Celia suggested, clearly following the same thought process. "But maybe not what happens with Bolg just yet? Or when they split up?"

Elena squinted, not quite remembering that. "Wait - what happens with Bolg, again?"

Celia shifted in her seat, avoiding the curious eyes of the Durin brothers. "Uh... Do you remember his fight with Tauriel on Ravenhill? The one where the guy she likes gets hit with the giant mace thingy?"

"Oh yeah, I remember now." Elena sat up straighter, eyes meeting Kíli's before flitting away uncomfortably. She noticed with a pang that the prince followed the action with a frown, starting to grow suspicious now.

"Care to let us in on this conversation?" Fíli interjected, raising his eyebrow at the two of them.

Elena nodded slowly. "I think it's best to start from the beginning. We can give you the basics, and then figure it out from there. Maybe see how our dreams are connected. They don't seem to be following the original plot much."

"Last night's did," Celia spoke up, her voice hushed. "At first, when Thorin and the others were on Ravenhill, and they split up. And then Azog found..." she trailed off weakly. "This is going to be harder than I thought," she muttered. "Stupid spoilers."

"Okay," Elena decided. "This is going to be a lot of information that we're throwing at you all at once, but you need to know it if you're going to follow it, all right?" When the two princes nodded, she continued, taking a deep breath. "Okay, then. Bit of background first, you remember when we told you that we know what was roughly going to happen back at Beorn's house?"

Fíli frowned in thought, then stiffened. "When you panicked and said that several people were going to die, and that you two had to try and stop it somehow? Is that what happens during this battle?"

"And something about a... dontis?" Kíli added hesitantly, wrinkling his brow in confusion at the memory.

Elena smiled faintly. "A dentist. I panicked and threw out an excuse - a pathetic one at that - about a dentist appointment that I needed to get to." She sobered. "But yes. This upcoming battle is the main reason we're here, I believe. People die that were not meant to die, and so we have to try and stop it, if we can."

"It all started when Smaug died," Celia started slowly, putting her thoughts together before speaking. "His death had a lot of consequences, not all of them good. While Erebor was now free of him, Thorin and the Company were all falling underneath the spell of gold sickness. Only a few, such as Bilbo and you two, and perhaps Bombur, originally, were unaffected. But Thorin was the most affected. Blinded by his desire for the Arkenstone, he sought it with everything he had, and let everything else fall to the wayside. Including his promises to Lake-town."

"Because we weren't there in the original storylines, there was no evacuation of Lake-town," Elena picked up where her sister left off. "Bard brought the survivors to the ruins of Dale, but they had little supplies, and no real place to stay. And winter was coming, and Thorin was refusing to give them the gold he had promised. So when Thranduil showed up with supplies for them and an army of his own, they were given a warm welcome."

Kíli swore under his breath, not even flinching when his brother thwacked him on the back of the head. "Let me guess. He wanted some of that gold, too." His eyes found her sister's. "I guess he never got over the gold sickness after all."

"Wait, what?" Elena looked between the two, confused. "What do you mean, 'gold sickness'? You think Thranduil had it, too?"

"I think he still _has_ it," Kíli emphasized. "As in, present tense. Greedy tree-hugger."

Celia rolled her eyes at him before turning to her sister and explaining. "Kíli told me a while back that anyone can get the gold sickness. It's more common in dwarves, because of our natural inclination to be possessive of things, but everyone can get it, and elves are no exception."

She shrugged. "It makes sense, really. Why else would Thranduil refuse to even offer food and supplies to the refugees when they were fleeing Erebor? And we know that gold sickness can make you do things you previously never would even consider doing. Even Bilbo admitted to being tempted by the treasure the first time he saw it." She hesitated, then grinned briefly. "Even if he was immediately distracted by his stomach after."

Elena nodded in acknowledgement, considering the idea. She had to admit that it made a certain amount of sense. Fíli brought them back on track with a pointed comment, and she shook her head to get her focus back.

"Anyways, so Thranduil comes and admits that he's always been tempted by some sort of white jewelry that we have here. Something about having requested it long ago, but was never actually given it? Also, I think he supports Bard's claim, but that could just be because he dislikes Thorin more than he acknowledges the fairness of Bard's claim."

"Seconded!"

"You can't second that opinion, Kíli. Just because Thranduil and Thorin have no love lost between them doesn't mean that they let it influence their decisions."

"..."

"... Okay, fine. Point to you."

"Thank you, Celia. I knew you'd come around."

"Moving on," Elena interrupted before their banter could distract them any further. As much as she may appreciate it, she needed to say it before she lost her courage. "Thorin, shockingly, is completely enraged by Thranduil's appearance, and refuses to have anything to do with either of them. Negotiations come to a halt, and the Company is now basically under siege. No one can get in, because Erebor is so well defended naturally, but they can't get out either."

She paused, wondering how she was going to word the next part of her explanation. "This next part is very confidential, and cannot leave this room, understand?" she told the two dwarrow in front of her with a stern expression. "Someone could be put in a lot of trouble and danger if word of this gets out before its time, but it's a highly controversial, occasionally considered treacherous subject that was done with the best of intentions. So if you don't want to hear it because you think you might be required to report it, let me know now."

Fíli narrowed his eyes at her, searching her expression. She met his honestly, letting him know how seriously she took what she was saying. At last he nodded, his face tightening in pain as he asked, "And who would I tell of this supposed treachery? In my unc- in Thorin's state, he already may not know friend from foe."

Kíli looked at Celia, studying her. "Do you think we need to know? Because if you do, I'll keep it a secret as long as you need." He felt her and Fíli's gaze on him and shrugged with a scowl. "What? Thorin's chosen where he stands, and so have I."

Celia laid a hand on his arm. "You know it's not his fault he's sick, Kíli," she reminded him gently.

He sighed, resting his other hand on top of hers and smiling weakly down at her. "Yeah. I know. It's hard not to blame him sometimes, though." Leaving his hand on top of hers, he looked back at Elena, a slight shade of pink dusting his cheeks. "So, what's this terrible secret of yours that has to stay hidden?"

Taking a mental screenshot of the picture before her to sketch out later, Elena continued, her humor fading as fast as it had come. "The Arkenstone is found, and not by Thorin." She took a deep breath to prepare herself, knowing that what she was going to say next could have serious long-reaching effects if things went south.

Fíli, obviously noticing her struggle, placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Just say it, Elena. The quicker you speak, the sooner it's over, and you know how we'll react."

Giving him a wan smile, she took another deep breath, then blew it back out again. "Bilbo finds the Arkenstone and gives it to Bard to use to barter with Thorin in exchange for the gold he needs," she finally managed to say in a rush.

Fíli's hand slid from her shoulder, and she found herself missing the steadying contact. "Bilbo finds the Arkenstone?" She nodded. "And gives it to Bard to use to get his gold back." She nodded again. "Why?"

She frowned, trying to remember what she had read so many years ago. "I don't exactly remember," she admitted. "But I think it had something to do with his notion of fairness. He took that in place of his share of the treasure, and gave it to Bard and Thranduil to use to get what they deserved."

Kíli snorted, shaking his head. "Of course he did. Stupid hobbit."

The words were fond, and spoken without malice, so she let them fall. His next words were much darker, and lacking any sort of affection, and that... that concerned her. A glance at Fíli showed that he was concerned as well, though he didn't comment on it at the time. Whatever had happened while they were in Lake-town had badly shaken Kíli's relationship with Thorin.

"I suppose Thorin saw it as a betrayal and took it out on Bilbo when he found out?"

"Banishing him from Erebor was the kindest thing he did," Celia admitted, her words hanging heavily in the air. "But it may also have been the best thing he did." She held up a hand to forestall her sister's protests. "That enabled Bilbo to find out about the trap being set on Ravenhill. If he hadn't, who knows how things would've gone."

"Yeah, but that's assuming things go movie-verse," Elena reminded her quickly. "In the book, there's virtually no description of the battle, including whether Ravenhill is involved or not. There's not necessarily a big advantage to Bilbo leaving Erebor before the battle if we can avoid it being found out that he was the one who gave the Arkenstone to Bard."

Celia raised an eyebrow at her sister. "Have you forgotten about the heirloom that Bilbo passes on to Frodo?" she asked pointedly. "If Smaug laying on this gold for a hundred years can affect it, I'm pretty sure that that has a part to play in it, too. We know it can affect the mind, and after it left, the Company started to get over their gold sickness."

Elena paused, not having considered that idea. "That's a good point," she said at last. "It might be better off for the Company if he does leave, so that it goes with him. At least until Gandalf can get in here and clean up any residual after effects from the dragon." She grimaced as another thought hit her. "Plus, I don't think that Bilbo would just stand by and not 'fess up to what he did. He'd admit it sooner or later, no matter what we did."

"Wait." Fíli held up a hand. "You're saying that something that Bilbo has is making the gold sickness worse, and if he leaves, it might get better? Why don't we just get rid of it now?"

Celia laughed with no humor. "It'd be great if we could, but that'd be like tossing a poisoned sword into a room full of children. Very dangerous, and potentially catastrophic. You have to dispose of it properly. And while we _are_ going to need to do that eventually, we have to focus on this first. Either way, we need to keep Thorin and the Arkenstone away from each other while Thorin is gold sick, or it could just make him worse."

Kíli nodded seriously. "Everyone here who's become obsessed with the gold has just gotten progressively worse the more time they spend with it. The shock of it being taken from him and given to Bard and Thranduil could be both the distance and the emotional shock needed to shake him loose from the dragon sickness. If this is what it takes to wake him up, I say we help Bilbo steal it if need be."

Everyone stared at him, but he just smirked unrepentantly. A triumphant shout from the treasury made them all jump, and they all got to their feet and hurried towards the room. Despite the early hour, most of the Company was already in there, gathered towards the center of the great room, and the rest were trickling in.

Elena saw Thorin standing in the center, staring down at his hands, and felt her blood freeze in her veins. He heard their arrival and turned to them, all signs of sanity gone from his eyes, replaced with a crazed glint that dulled the brightness and intelligence that normally shone there. A bright light lit up his face, and he cradled something round and white in his hands, which he thrust up in the air triumphantly.

"Found at the heart of the mountain, now returned to us once more. Behold, the Arkenstone!"

* * *

 **A/N: Well, crap...**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to PhoenixLordess, Outofthisworldgal, lindir's gaze, E, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing!**

 _ **PhoenixLordess: No happy reunions yet... (But I promise it's coming! And then there's going to be so much fluff...) Laurel's coming, promise! She just needs a few days to get there first. (And Kília's coming - seriously, lots of it. Probably.) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, the dreams... are still a mystery. For now. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **lindir's gaze: (Gonna be a response to all your reviews here) I'm glad you liked the setup. :D (and Celia did the babysitting more as a favor than a job, hence why she was willing to do it for $20). And I thought about giving the female dwarves beards, but then decided that I was going to take a more AU route anyways, based off of a headcannon/canon I'd heard somewhere that the female dwarves wear wigs and such to appear like males when they go out in public for protection. No idea where I heard it, but I liked it, so that's what I went with. And Bilbo's parents did die of sickness, I believe, in the original storyline. I think I mentioned it in the Author's note for that chapter, but I changed Bilbo's backstory a bit as well, and made him a bit more adventurous. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **E: Yay! That makes me even more glad you tried out my story and liked it! :) Yep. I thought there was a bit of poetic justice in the Master being eaten by Smaug. I certainly had a bit of fun writing it, lol. Both elves and orcs will show up soon, and Laurel is on her way. :D Unfortunately, I have her entrance set around a specific moment, meaning that she likely won't show up until then. :/ Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yeah, the dreams are still a mystery for the time being. We shall see, we shall see... ;) And Fíli and Kíli are currently being inducted into the club of knowing the future and all its joys. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: If I were Tolkien, I probably wouldn't be so awful about updating on time. It ain't mine. :(**


	57. Chapter 57 - Facing Facts

~~ Celia ~~

Celia's eyes went wide as Thorin thrust his hand up in the air, displaying the shiny rock for them all to see. A small, mostly transparent globe, it glowed with an inner light that made her think of a galaxy. It was pretty, certainly, and she couldn't help her jaw dropping, just a little. There was something about it, some radiant majesty that just claimed your attention when you first saw it.

She could certainly see why so many, such as Thorin, perhaps Thranduil, and even Smaug had coveted it. But anything after that was being unreasonable. And if yet another war was started because of some shiny jewelry, she was going to be very cross.

"I don't suppose there's any chance that that's not the Arkenstone?" she sighed.

"Thorin and Balin both know it well," Fíli informed her, not taking his eyes off the festivities. "Neither of them would be easily fooled. The glow within the Arkenstone is something that no mortal, or elf, knows how to copy."

"So that's the Arkenstone," Elena murmured beside her, reluctant awe filling her voice. "I have to say, it is a pretty rock."

"And a symbol that we've truly reclaimed Erebor," Kíli reminded her, watching his uncle talk excitedly with Dwalin and the other excited dwarves with a torn expression. "On the one hand, I'm proud that we've made it this far, and not lost a single member of the Company. After over a hundred and fifty years of hardship and struggle and loss, Erebor is ours once more, and I was a part of that. But on the other hand..."

"On the other hand, you're worried it might just make things worse," Fíli finished for him. He glanced down at the two girls. "Didn't you say that originally Bilbo found it, not Thorin?"

"We did." Elena's voice was troubled. "Which means that things are changing, and not just because of us. I see no way in which our being here could have changed things, since I wasn't around soon enough to help look, and Celia wouldn't have given it to him if she had found it."

"So, why did he find it, and not Bilbo?" Celia asked quietly. "Anything we might have changed earlier could have had no influence on the treasure, as Smaug guarded it until we arrived, and he didn't know we were coming. We never told anyone except for you two just now that the Arkenstone would even be found."

"Unless we're not the only players in this game anymore," Elena mentioned quietly. "Maybe someone else is influencing events as well?"

"Threads in a tapestry," Celia murmured, the words sparking a distant memory.

The others turned to her. "What?"

She chewed on one of her nails, trying to bring the memory to the forefront of her mind. "There was something someone said... new threads in a tapestry change how it goes... or something like that."

Elena was looking at her in concern now, searching her own memory for any sort of phrase or words like that. "When did you hear that? And from who?"

"Uh..." Her brain stalled, giving her hazy images of a dark haired man who exuded more majesty and power than Thorin at his broodiest, who spoke to her in her dreams, once. "I was dreaming, actually. I think it was that time when I feel into the enchanted river in Mirkwood, and slept for almost a week. It was a guy. Tall, dark haired, wore a golden crown and a deep blue cape. Never introduced himself, but I could literally feel the power coming off of him. He said he was able to talk to me once I fell asleep, and talked to me there."

"What?" Elena looked dumbfounded. "What's that all about?"

But Fíli and Kíli evidently had a guess, if their faces were anything to go by. "Celia, this man... did he say anything to you, that gave you an indication that this was more than just a dream?" Kíli hissed, still exchanging incredulous looks with his brother.

She thought about it, then nodded. "Come to think of it, yeah. For one thing, my normal dreams never make any sense, which is why the nightmares this last week stood out so much. They're scattered and all over the place, and usually don't follow the bounds of reality. But this... this felt different. The man knew my name, my full name, and what we were going on the quest for. He also..." She slowed to a stop, grimacing as the rest of the memory started to come back.

"What, what is it?" Elena asked worriedly.

She bit her lip. "He gave us a warning about what would happen if we fail, and... the price."

"The price?" Fíli repeated. "The price for what?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is this related to the..." he lowered his voice. "The battle coming up?"

She nodded, holding up a hand to stop him from asking more questions. "But this is not the place to discuss it. We need to go somewhere private, and not easily accessed, because you're not going to like what you hear, and that is a _guarantee_."

"And, we need to figure out what we're going to do about the Arkenstone now that Thorin has it," Kíli added, looking worried by her warning. "Am I right in assuming that that could change how it all plays out?"

"Fíli! Kíli! Come join us and celebrate!" Thorin's booming voice interrupted them before either of the sisters could answer. He strode up to them quickly and threw his arms around his nephews, smiling widely at them both, the happy expression looking almost strange compared to his typical more reserved countenance. "The Arkenstone has been found, and Smaug is dead! I will send a letter by raven to Dáin today, and we can have an army here within the week! I will send a letter to Dis, and, she can start preparations to join us!"

He spun them around to face the rest of the Company, raising his voice for them all to hear. "Today is a day of celebration, for our hard work has been rewarded!" Pulling his arm from Kíli's shoulder, he slipped it into his pocket and pulled out the Arkenstone, thrusting it aloft once more, clearly exulting in the excited cheer that followed, but missing the hurt expression on Kíli's face as, once more, he was left behind by his uncle's madness. "Bombur! Prepare a fine meal today, we've all earned a day of ease!" Releasing Fíli as well, he was quickly drawn back into the festivities.

Fíli stared after his uncle, hurt and worry filling his eyes, but he quickly dismissed it in favor of turning to his brother, his face falling at Kíli's visible pain. "Kee, you know he's not trying to hurt you, right?" he asked softly, placing a hand on his brother's arm.

Kíli snorted bitterly, his arm tensing under Fíli's grip as his hand clenched and unclenched. "Trying? Maybe not. Succeeding anyways? That might be a bit more accurate."

"He looked almost normal though, just now, when he was talking about us all celebrating," Elena pointed out gently. "This might be a chance for you two to talk to him for real before..."

"Before it all goes downhill," Kíli finished grimly. "Say our goodbyes now, you mean."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You were always one of the main optimists on the quest, Kíli. What made you such a downer now?"

He raised his own eyebrow right back at her. "I'm not being pessimistic, Elena, I'm being realistic. I was thrust into a situation where we could die at any minute, with no counsel available from anyone who should have been there to help me, left virtually in charge as everyone else started to go insane around me, all the while knowing that I was losing control of my own mind. Making jokes wouldn't bring Thorin to his senses, nor would they ensure your safe return from Lake-town."

He sighed suddenly, losing some of the tension in his shoulders. "And it's hard to remain optimistic when you watch the dwarf who helped raise you fall into madness and become the dwarf he swore he would never be."

Celia watched him with sadness, wishing they could just be done with this whole awful scenario. Unable to help herself - and not really wanting to anyways - she stepped forward and wrapped the prince up in a comforting hug, smiling when his arms wrapped around her in return and he rested his head atop her own.

Her smile disappeared when she opened her eyes and saw Fíli and Elena watching them with smiles on their faces, Elena waggling her eyebrows at her sister suggestively. Scowling - especially because she knew how much Kíli needed the support right then - she narrowed her eyes at them and thrust out a hand to them impatiently.

"Well, what are you waiting for? This is the sanest Kíli and I have been since you guys have arrived, and now we're all awake enough that we can greet each other properly. This is clearly the occasion for a group hug."

Sending each other knowing glances, Fíli and her sister grinned before joining in on the hug, although they contrived it so that they were on the outside, squeezing Kíli and Celia closer together until Celia managed to garble out a protest, claiming her ribs were in danger.

The group separated, and Fíli and Kíli - at the repeated urging of the twins - went off to spend time with their uncle. They were both greeted warmly, and Celia felt her heart melt a little at the expression on Kíli's face when Thorin gently knocked their foreheads together, murmuring something that seemed to please him.

And then her sister elbowed her in the side, a wide, mischievous grin upon her face. "So..." she drawled suggestively.

"So... what?" Celia retorted, narrowing her eyes at her suspiciously.

Elena grinned wider. " _Nothing_ ," she sang innocently.

"What?" Celia drew out the word, even more suspicious now.

Elena shrugged, still maintaining an innocent air. "Nothing, really. I just noticed that Kíli happened to look rather disappointed that your special hug was broken up, that's all."

Celia immediately felt the blood rush to her cheeks, cursing herself for reacting the way Elena clearly wanted her to. "What are you talking about?" she demanded defensively. "He hugged you guys, too."

"Yeah, but it took him a minute to release you so that he could hug us as well, and while he still liked it, he didn't like it _nearly_ as much as when it was just you two. And when we broke up, he held onto you the longest. And he definitely looked disappointed when you stopped hugging him, although I'll grant that he covered it up quickly."

Ignoring her now flaming cheeks, Celia rolled her eyes at her sister. "Okay, I get it. You're making up for a week of not being able to tease us. You can stop at any time, you know."

"Teasing who about what?" Thick arms were thrown about them both as Bofur appeared between them, glancing between them both curiously. "I'm always ready for a good tease."

Celia shot her sister a warning look, which she blissfully ignored. "Just teasing Celia about her hug with Kíli, which seemed to be pleasing to both parties."

"Elena!" Celia hissed. "It was just a hug between friends! Nothing happened, and you guys both joined in."

"Ah." Bofur suddenly nodded knowingly, turning to her sister. "Another case of it?" Her sister nodded, and he sighed in mock sadness. "All well, it was a good attempt." He eyed her suddenly. "I don't suppose ye'd be wanting to change any of yer terms?"

Elena tilted her head to the side, thinking about it, then nodded. Dipping her hand into her pocket, she pulled out two coins and handed them to Bofur. "Within the next three days, and up my wager by two silver coins, for them both."

"Ooh, taking a big risk there, lass," he whistled, placing the two coins into a small bag. "Especially with circumstances being what they are. The next closest bet is for some point after Dáin's army gets here in the next week, when we start to rebuild. And that's from Dwalin."

Elena stared at him, then suddenly started laughing. "Dwalin's in on this, too? When did he start?"

Bofur smirked. "Before you did, lass. He was one of the first to make a wager, back at Beorn's house."

"Wait, what's going on? What's all this about a bet?" Celia interrupted, her voice raising as she suddenly felt an awful suspicion. "Wait. Does this involve me somehow?" Their guilty looks betrayed them, and she backed away incredulously, shaking her head. "No. What kind of bet are you making about me? Because if this is something embarrassing, I swear I will poison everyone involved."

"It's nothing bad, Cel," Elena hastened to assure her. "And you know I would never bet on anything that would humiliate you." Celia eyed her suspiciously, and her sister made her eyes go wide and innocent. "Really, I promise. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I can tell you what it's about, and we can all laugh about it."

Bofur raised an eyebrow at her. "Got anything you wanna tell me, lass? Any new information you'd care to share?"

Elena smirked, but shook her head. "I think my source - and my information - should be kept private for now. With luck, we'll find out soon."

Bofur grumbled, but acquiesced easily, showing he bore no real ill will. "I'll just give these to Nori then," he announced, patting his pocket meaningfully.

"Wait, Nori's keeping the money?" Elena asked.

He nodded, grinning, glancing over at Celia as he explained. "If you've heard him jingling more than usual these last few days, it's because the wagers have been going up like nobody's business. Not sure why, though. Haven't been around to find out, I suppose."

Celia blinked. That was why Nori had been jingling? Not because of some obsession with the gold? Maybe... maybe he wasn't as deep in the gold sickness as she'd feared. And if he wasn't, maybe... maybe the others weren't as bad as she'd originally feared, either. Suddenly feeling much lighter, she felt a smile touch her lips.

"Well, I'd best be off," Bofur announced. "Trouble to cause, and all that. I've brought a few flasks o' wine from Lake-town, and I intend to put them to good use. It's our day off, after all." Tipping his hat at them, he hurried off after the rest of the Company to the guardroom, where they were evidently celebrating.

"What's the bet really about?" Celia asked as soon as he had left.

Elena shrugged, a small smile playing about her lips. "Can't tell you, not yet. Sorry. Like I said though, it's nothing bad. And if it plays out like I hope it will, you'll be glad enough about it."

"About a bet?" Celia deadpanned. Her sister nodded. "Why?"

Elena thought about it for a minute before answering. "Because he makes you happy." A teasing tone entered her voice. "So anything involving him should make you happy."

Celia's eyes widened, and she batted at her sister's arm furiously. "You made a bet about me and Kíli? What the heck, Elena!"

"Hey, hey, hey, I never said it was about Kíli!" Elena protested, fighting laughter. "Or that it directly involved him in any way. Don't make assumptions that we're betting on you guys dating, or anything ridiculous like that."

Celia deflated, still pouting at her sister. "Fine. You're right. I only know the bare minimum because _someone,_ " she glared at her sister, who maintained her innocent air, "won't tell me what's going on. I shouldn't make assumptions without all the facts. You temporarily win."

"Good." Her sister paused, and sobered. "Speaking of assumptions and facts, do you think we should tell them about what's supposed to happen today?"

Celia bit her lip as she thought it over, Kíli's happy face as his uncle truly greeted him for the first time in days popping into her mind, and shook her head. "No. Not right now, at least. This might be their last chance to interact with the real Thorin before it all goes wrong. We all need a bit of joyfulness and a chance to rest before the rest of our battles - both metaphorical and literal - come."

Elena nodded, accepting her reasoning. "I think you have a point. Let's go join the party. Maybe we can hang out with Bilbo. Should be interesting. Also, don't think I didn't see you blush when you thought about Kíli," she added, poking her sister in the side.

Celia blushed.

"Me blushing has nothing to do with Kíli!" she protested as they started for the guardroom. "And how do you know I was thinking about Kíli?"

"Okay, maybe the blush wasn't enough," Elena agreed. "The sappy smile was what clinched it."

Celia stuttered in silent outrage before whacking her sister on the arm again. "It wasn't sappy!"

Elena shrugged. "You don't smile like that about me. Or Fíli. Or Bilbo. Or anyone else, really. Coincidence?" She leaned in close to her sister, waggling her eyebrows teasingly. "I think not!"

Celia put a hand on her sister's face and shoved it away. "Why are you teasing me so much about Kíli all of a sudden?"

"Uh, maybe because it looks like you're finally starting to admit that you care about him," Elena pointed out dryly.

"I've always cared about him," Celia sniffed indignantly. "Him and every other person on this quest. Your argument has no ground to stand on."

"Uh-huh. Okay. So you just blush whenever you think about anyone, and have a sappy smile for anyone, and you definitely have very little issues when it comes to personal space with everyone?" Elena asked skeptically. "Don't think I didn't notice you and Kíli easily just hanging off each other practically since I've arrived."

Celia rolled her eyes, trying - and failing - to fight down a steady blush at the realization of just how many walls had fallen in the last week, and how comfortable she and Kíli were with each other. "Yeah, but we both have the dragon sickness, remember? Anything we may or may not feel is influenced by that," she pointed out triumphantly. "Therefore, we can't take any of it seriously."

She deflated suddenly. "No matter how much we may want to," she muttered, hardly even realizing she'd said it out loud until Elena's hand brushed her arm comfortingly. She looked up to see her sister smiling at her fondly, with just a hint of the teasing that had been at the forefront before.

"Oh, Celia."

"What?" Celia snapped, suddenly feeling very patronized.

Elena took both of her hands in her own, and looked her in the eye to make sure she had her attention.

"The dragon sickness doesn't give you new feelings that weren't there before, Celia. It just magnifies a feeling that you already had before. Whatever you and Kíli may feel towards each other, is real."

* * *

 **BONUS SCENE:** Celia sucked in a breath, her mind working overtime on what Elena had just said, weighing the truth of it against what she knew, and came to the inevitable conclusion. "Elena," she whispered, looking up at her sister, who seemed very eager for some reason. Her eyes wide at her own revelation, she missed her sister's sudden deflation and facepalm as she said, "I think I'm attracted to Kíli."

* * *

 **A/N: Here's some Kília for all you shippers out there that have been asking for it. ;) Next chapter will likely be from Celia's view as well, and will be a follow-up to this chapter. (AKA, more Kília to the point that you guys will probably tell me to stop) Any guesses as to what the mysterious bet might involve are welcome. :D**

 **Bard, Thranduil, and Laurel are all on their way to Erebor at this point, but are all at different stages of their journey, meaning that they will all arrive at different times. Just in case anyone was wondering where they were at.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, PhoenixLordess, Lady Silverstar2, Gyuchin, Outofthisworldgal, and E for reviewing! :)**

 _ **ChildofDreams: Don't give up hope just yet! (That's what the Battle of Five Armies is for) ;)**_

 _ **PhoenixLordess: You know, I like your plan B. Can I borrow that? ;) Some fluff here, but... if next chapter actually goes according to plan for once, we might just be drowning in Kília fluff. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Yep. No one knows how the Arkenstone being involved this early on will change things, least of all Elena and Celia. Fíli and Kíli will be informed of the rest of what's going to happen, and may or may not even be involved in certain events regarding the Arkenstone. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **Gyuchin: I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for reviewing! :D**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Regretfully, Thorin has, indeed, come across the Arkenstone. (Sorry for any confusion). Only time will tell how this will all play out... Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **E: Azog most likely doesn't have gold sickness (though it is possible, and I wouldn't put it past him, the Greedy Gus that he is), since he's more concerned with killing off the Durins for his master (AKA Sauron). Yep! Elena and Celia will be telling all, and soon. They're really going to be needing Fíli and Kíli's help with this one. Thorin did indeed find the Arkenstone, much to everyone's regret, and I find it hilarious how you (apparently) responded. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	58. Chapter 58 - Insanity or Insomnia?

~~ Elena ~~

Celia snickered as her sister slapped her hand into her face. "Just kidding. I've known I had a crush on him for a while now. This isn't anything new."

Elena slid her hand down from her face, glaring at her twin, and smacked her lightly on the back of the head. "Doofus."

Celia pouted and laid her head endearingly on her sister's shoulder, looking up at her with pleading eyes. "But I'm your doofus, yeah?"

Elena snorted disbelievingly, but wrapped an arm around Celia anyways. "Yeah. Don't know why I put up with you anymore, but yeah. I'm the only one who's willing to take on the 24/7 maintenance you require." She paused, then amended her statement. "Well, I used to be. Something tells me Kíli might be willing to make the attempt as well."

Celia tsked in annoyance and stood up straight, rolling her eyes at her sister. "We were having a sisterly bonding moment, Elena. You ruined it. Nice going." She shook her finger reprovingly.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, I know. I can feel the sorrow emanating off of you all the way over here."

"Yeah, the entire foot distance between us is just not big enough to contain the overwhelming sorrow I'm feeling right now."

A growl cut through the air between them, and Celia looked down at her stomach sheepishly, then back up at her sister. "Sorry. I haven't eaten yet today, and I think my stomach's objecting to that treatment."

Elena slung her good arm around her sister and tugged her after the rest of the Company, following the smell of a savory stew cooking. "More like you haven't eaten at all this week. I can practically feel your ribs through this tunic! You need to eat more. A healthy dwarf is a happy dwarf, and thus more likely to get a date."

"Elena, I swear - ! And your arm's around my shoulders, how the heck did you feel my ribs?"

"Well, I guess you're just that skinny. You need to eat more."

"Well, excuse me for not being hungry after the week I've had. I don't think Kíli or I have eaten a full meal at all this week. Neither of us have had the stomach for it."

"Yeah. We could tell," Elena said, dropping the teasing tone from her voice. "You guys looked like survivors of the zombie apocalypse when you showed up. Heavy bags under your eyes, bruises and blood everywhere, ripped clothing covered in more blood, messy hair, and you both looked half out of it."

Celia snorted without humor. "Felt like it, too. I had nightmares every night, and couldn't sleep. And Kíli said once that he felt like his thoughts were getting foggy, and he felt a strong desire to protect me. And when Thorin said I was worthless because I didn't know where the Arkenstone was, he got mad to the point that he punched through a door instead of hitting his uncle."

She sighed, eyes heavy and distant. "I don't think it's as bad as he says it is. Or, at least, that it's as deep as he thinks it is. He's been really good about stepping back when I'm not in danger, and hasn't been controlling at all - not that there's really been a chance for that. This sickness for him, if that's what it is, really just displays itself by him keeping me close. And if I'm being honest, I didn't really object to that. Sickness aside, he was the one I was closest to, and who knew what was going on. And with everything that was going on... I didn't feel like being alone."

"So, wait. Let me get this straight," Elena interrupted. "Kíli thinks he has dragon sickness because he: wants to be around you," she counted off on her fingers as she spoke, "wants to keep you safe, and gets angry when someone attacks you, verbally or otherwise. Also, he has trouble keeping his thoughts straight about or around you. Am I right so far?"

Celia shrugged. "Basically, yes. I mean, we know it's not gold sickness, so what else could it be?"

"Hmm, yes, I wonder," Elena muttered, side-eyeing her sister before trying a different tactic. "Celia, the other people who you think are obsessed with whatever, what are they like? Are they the same way? Or is it a little different?"

Celia frowned uncertainly as she thought about it. "I guess it's a little different. I mean, like, when I say that Bombur's obsessed with food, he's really obsessed with it. He's always mumbling about different recipes whenever he was working in the treasury, protective of them and whatnot. He got really upset when Bífur tripped and got some dirt or something in the pot when he was cooking. It was weird, because I don't think I've seen him really get angry before, ever. And especially not at Bífur or Bofur."

"So, they get irrationally upset when something encroaches on whatever they're obsessed with?" Elena probed.

Celia eyed her sister. "Basically, yeah. Why? What are you trying to get at here?"

Elena stopped walking for a moment and tugged her sister off to the side, chewing her lip as she tried to decide what to say, while Celia waited impatiently. At last she took a deep breath and placed her hand on her sister's shoulder and looked her in the eyes, making sure she had her full attention.

"Celia," she said seriously, "I don't think Kíli has the dragon sickness."

Celia stared at her sister like she was insane. "What? Elena, he has all the symptoms."

"Mm, he has the symptoms all right," Elena agreed. "Just not of dragon sickness."

"What are you talking about?" Celia demanded. "I already told you how he said he felt foggy and possessive. He punched a door, for crying out loud, he was so angry. How is that not a sign of it?" She hesitated. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I'd love it if it turned out that neither of us actually had it. But then what do you think he actually has?"

"Just think about it, Cel," Elena coaxed her twin. "He's protective of you. He got upset when Thorin - the guy who raised him - suddenly seemed to lose it, and really insulted his best friend on top of that. Rather than immediately punching out his lights, he restrained himself until he was in a private setting, and then released his anger in a way that didn't harm anyone."

"Except himself," Celia pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you think his hand is wrapped?"

Elena groaned. "The point is, he wasn't irrationally angry. He actually showed remarkable restraint given how angry he apparently was. Heck, if I had been there, I probably wouldn't have waited until I was alone to start throwing punches. The way Thorin treated you is inexcusable. I mean, I'm sure if Mom were here she'd probably tell us to use words, not fists, but it's understandable enough. And don't forget, it's entirely possible that part of Kíli's anger was driven by seeing his uncle in that state."

Celia dropped her eyes to the ground. "That is true. I've seen a lot of anger driven by grief in my time as a paramedic back in the other world. I didn't even think about that as a possibility. I should've seen that. Stupid!" she muttered at herself, shaking her head.

Elena nudged her with her elbow. "Hey, it's not your fault. You had a lot on your mind. And it's not like you blamed Kíli for being rightly upset, so don't blame yourself too much. Have there been any other outbursts, irrational or otherwise?"

Celia shook her head. "Not really. After that, he just tried to ignore Thorin as much as possible. Both of them were kind of cold to each other, but they didn't really interact enough for anything else to happen. Mostly like what you saw yesterday."

Elena nodded thoughtfully. "So he sort of lost his temper once, in an understandable situation, and then tried his best to avoid Thorin so that it didn't happen again. So I don't think he's got irrational anger issues. Just typical protective best friend issues. As for being possessive..." she trailed off, thinking. "He said he felt the instinct to see you as his, as belonging to him, but doesn't want to feel that way. He's actively ignoring that instinct to treat you respectfully. I mean, that could be a sign of dragon sickness, sure. Especially since he's never felt that way before."

"But...?" Celia asked when she stopped.

"But he's actively fighting against it, and I haven't seen any of the others doing that," Elena finished. "They don't even seem aware that what they're doing is wrong, or concerning. Maybe Kíli does have it, just really lightly. But if he does, then I think he's getting over it. For someone who should be obsessive and clingy, he's remarkably calm about leaving you alone with me while he went off with his uncle."

"And your point?"

"My point is that I might use the word overprotective, as compared to having the dragon sickness" Elena said thoughtfully. "Aside from the bit about thinking of you as his, everything else seems like a normal, understandable response from someone who cares a great deal about another person. I mean, think about it," she explained.

"In a mountain formerly owned by an evil dragon, and largely damaged by said dragon, and now filled with dwarves who definitely are gold sick, or dragon sick, and who've lost most of their moral bearings, he wants to keep you close. But he's okay with leaving you with me - someone that, for the moment, at least, is mostly sane, and also cares about you. He defends you from insult and attack, and even tries to protect you from himself when he sees himself as a threat to you - even if it's just because his own dragon sickness makes him see you as his."

"So... you think he's getting better?" Celia asked uncertainly.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Yes. If he really does have it, I think he's getting better. He acts almost exactly the same as he did before you guys left for Erebor, minus perhaps a bit of bitterness that's equally understandable. Oh, and he's a lot more comfortable around you now."

She chewed her lip as she thought about the best way to word it. "Fíli told me last night after you fell asleep that dwarves are naturally prone to being possessive, before it warps into what we know as dragon sickness. Kíli doesn't have any of the symptoms of dragon sickness. Not like the others. Just the possessive behavior, and he's already fighting against that. I think the dragon gold and the presence of the Ring brought it on. And as soon as he's away from them, I think he'll be completely back to normal."

"Well, that explains the possessiveness, I guess," Celia agreed innocently. "But then why did you make such a big deal about all the other stuff?" She blinked with wide eyes as her twin eyed her suspiciously before rolling her eyes and trying a different tactic.

"What would you say if I told you that Fíli has been losing his concentration around me?" Elena asked, changing the subject. "He's also been overprotective, and sticking close to me, and even asked me to help him braid his hair, which I've been informed means that he trusts me a great deal, among other things."

Celia raised an eyebrow. "You mean when you were left in Lake-town with the Master, and then Smaug attacked? Gee. That's so strange. Why on Earth would he do that?" She dropped the act with a snicker when Elena groaned like she had been physically hurt. "I'm just kidding. I'd totally tease you about him having a crush on you. And I get where you're coming from, I really do."

Her cheeks pinked. "And I wouldn't exactly complain if he turned out to be interested in me, too. I just - even if he doesn't have the dragon sickness, neither of us can exactly be sure of our emotions at this time. I don't want him to say something, only to find out later that it wasn't entirely from him."

Elena frowned. "I guess I can understand that," she admitted. "Just - from what I understand, the dragon sickness takes something that you already feel and exaggerates it. Now, obviously Kíli doesn't have it to the degree that some of the others seem to have. He hasn't forgotten everything else, and is still concerned with doing the right thing, even if it could cost him. I mean, just compare him to Thorin. He's forgotten about his promise to Lake-town, even though it means he's acting just like Thranduil did, and even the way he's treating Kíli. Fíli was furious. And a little bit horrified, I think, that he could act that callously."

"So, you think Kíli doesn't have the dragon sickness at all?" Celia asked uncertainly. "That his possessive instinct or whatever was just triggered by all this gold?

"And probably you being in danger," Elena pointed out. "You mentioned that you guys were almost killed by Smaug. That could've been enough to set it off, if he was worried that you were about to die, and then all this stupid gold and Bilbo's ring were able to exaggerate it to the point that it was no longer a normal reaction. And he's apparently been fighting it enough that I wouldn't be surprised if even that went away in short order."

Celia smiled. "He'll be relieved to hear that. I know he's been really stressed this last week, trying to be the strong one while Thorin was... like this... and at the same time, worrying and double-thinking everything he was saying to me."

She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Maybe what he really needs is a nap. I know I feel a lot better now that I've actually slept for more than, like, two hours in a row. I mean, I still had that nightmare, but I probably got at least nine or ten hours of sleep before that."

Elena scoffed. "Try more like eighteen." She nodded at Celia's skeptical look. "We got back sometime around noon yesterday, right? After we went to the sleeping area, you were out within, like, fifteen minutes. And you slept until shortly after dawn this morning. I mean, I don't know when exactly that was, but you slept for a really long time before I woke you up."

"Huh." Celia considered that information, then shrugged. "I guess that's about right. Weird. I don't think I've ever slept that long in my life before. I definitely feel a lot more clearheaded, so it must have helped."

"And it was definitely needed," Elena added dryly. "The first time I saw you, I thought you'd been attacked by a bear or something, you looked so bad."

"No, just a dragon. And thanks for the compliment, by the way," Celia snarked. "I definitely had a lot of time to focus on my appearance while I was going insane." Her tone was far too bitter to be a joke, and Elena frowned.

"Hey." Her sudden sharp tone startled her sister, and she snapped her head up to Elena. "You weren't going insane. You were dealing with an incredibly stressful situation on little to no sleep. There's every chance that you were being influenced by the Ring in addition to that, and you and Kíli were worried sick the whole time we were gone from what I hear. But you weren't going insane, and neither was Kíli. And you're definitely not insane now."

Celia eyed her strangely. "What's up with the defensive tone? You've told me I was insane before lots of times. Heck, you've laughed when _I_ said I was insane."

Elena frowned at her. "Yeah, but then I didn't mean it. And neither did you."

Celia flinched. "It's a little hard not to wonder if you're going crazy when everyone else around you seems to be, too," she admitted. "Once Kíli pointed out that I could be in danger of getting obsessed too, I started looking at everything through skewed lenses, wondering if I was caring a little too much about it."

"I can see how you might feel that way," Elena agreed. "But neither you nor Kíli are acting like the rest of the sick dwarves. You're acting more like two sleep-deprived people trying to make the best of a cruddy situation. And you're acting fairly normal now that you've actually gotten some sleep. I don't think Kíli slept much at all last night. He and Fíli were still up talking by the time I went to bed, and I think we can presume that they got up shortly after we did."

"So... what you're saying is that the cure to dragon sickness is going to bed?" Celia joked.

Elena shrugged. "If the shoe fits... But actually, I'm not really sure. Like I said, neither you nor Kíli were acting like the others, and if you did have it, you seem to be returning to normal extremely quickly. It's been less than a week, and the others are still going strong. Maybe talk to Óin about it. He's one of the older dwarves here, and thus more experienced, and he just got here from Lake-town, so it's unlikely that he's been affected by the gold or anything just yet. He might have some advice, or be able to help otherwise."

Celia considered that. "It's funny how things seem to make a lot more sense now that you're around," she said at last with a smile. "Just think what could have been if you'd been here earlier this week?"

Elena stroked her non-existent beard thoughtfully. "I dunno. Actually, I probably would've gotten in trouble for hitting Thorin with something when he called you worthless. Maybe a jewel, maybe a baseball bat. I dunno."

Celia's stomach growled again, and she wrapped an arm protectively around it. "Sorry," she grimaced at her sister. "Is there any chance we can continue this after we get some food? I'm pretty sure my stomach is trying to eat itself now that I've actually acknowledged my hunger."

"Yeah, sorry," Elena apologized, turning back towards the smell of stew emanating from an open doorway further down the area. "I'm hungry too. Will Bombur be cooking in the guardroom?"

"No, I think he'll be cooking on the wall outside, so that the smoke has a place to go. I'll show you." Celia tugged her through a tunnel back to the lookout where the rest of the Company was gathered around a small cooking fire, which Bombur was was using to prepare a large pot of stew. The look of complete concentration and slight adoration was concerning, but normal at this point for Celia. Elena, however, looked fairly taken aback, and Celia just nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. That's how he normally looks nowadays."

"How long do you think it'll take?" Elena wondered as her stomach let out a growl of its own.

"Oh, it'll be a couple of hours at least, lass," Glóin interrupted, overhearing them. "Bombur's making the stew his mother used to make, and he says that to make it proper, you have to let it simmer. And he won't hear of changing the recipe, which I can understand. My own wife, now, she's the same way. A far better cook than I could ever hope to be, and prettier to boot. Mahal really did bless me when he sent me my Della. Have I told you the story about how we met when she threw a boot at me for complaining about the food being cold?"

"Oh, come now, brother, you're not telling the tale of how you met your wife again, are you?" Óin interrupted, furrowing his bushy brows at his younger brother. "The point of a celebration is to have fun, not bore everyone to tears."

Glóin gasped in outrage. "How could you say such a thing, Óin? You told me yourself that you thought she was a good match for me."

"That I did," Óin admitted. "And I still stand by it. Doesn't mean I want to hear you bring it up every single chance you get." He rolled his eyes at the girls. "He always does this. I could recite word for word half of his life with Della. I'm glad you're happy with her, brother, but there's such a thing as too much."

Glóin crossed his arms. "You're just jealous that once they arrive, I'll be able to show off the wealth of Erebor to my wife and son, while all you'll have to show off to is - oh yes. That's right. _My_ wife and son. Such is the price of being an unmarried dwarf. Your only audience is your extended family."

Óin frowned, but looked more concerned than anything. Rather than retort to the jab, he just turned to the girls. "It's likely to be a bit before the stew is ready, and Mahal help the soul who asks Bombur if he could speed it up. If you haven't eaten breakfast yet, I suggest you take some of the bread that we brought from Lake-town and use that to sate your hunger."

"I'm on it," Elena said immediately, darting over to the food stores a few feet away and grabbing a loaf and a clean knife from one of the bags.

Celia took the opportunity to pull Óin off to the side, out of the way of the others so that they were less noticeable, but still within earshot of her sister. "Óin? Do you think I could talk to you privately?" she asked timidly. "Or maybe with Elena? There's just - there's some things I need to ask you, if possible. Mainly regarding the, uh, situation here."

The old healer looked over his shoulder at his brother, then back at her with sad understanding. "Yes, I think that might be best," he agreed. "Do you have a place you'd prefer to go?"

Celia wrinkled her nose. "The guardroom is close, and would likely be empty right now, but on the other hand, it's a bit too close, and the risk of someone wandering in and overhearing something they shouldn't is too high. Kíli and I explored Erebor a bit during the last few days, but I'm not familiar enough yet to keep all the different paths straight in my head. Maybe the hall with the floor of gold?" she suggested. "That's farther than the guardroom, and a bit off from the treasury, so it's unlikely anyone will be looking in there."

"Do whuf now?" Elena came up to them, her voice muffled by a slice of bread shoved in her mouth. She pulled it out and swallowed her bite, then tried again. "What are we doing?"

"We're going to the hall where we were earlier," Celia informed her. "I asked Óin if I could talk to him there."

"Ohhhh." Elena nodded sagely. "Sweet. Do you remember how to get there?"

Celia rolled her eyes. "Yes, actually, I do. Do you want to grab anything first, Óin?"

The healer shook his head, and gestured for her to lead. She grabbed a slice from Elena, and led the way back to the hall she had been in earlier, their blankets still on the ground. She picked them up and started to fold them for something to do while Óin waited patiently and Elena continued to eat.

At last she sighed and turned to Óin, draping the blankets over her arm. "How do I know if I have the dragon sickness or not?" she blurted out.

He looked startled. "You think you have the dragon sickness? Why?"

Elena nodded sagely. "That's what I said."

Celia began to twist her fingers nervously. "Well, maybe not necessarily the dragon sickness, but at least starting to get possessive. My brain's felt foggy all week, and I've had a hard time thinking straight. There are some things that I've been really worried about, but now I'm worried that maybe I'm worried about them too much. I've been having trouble sleeping sometimes because I've been so worried about what's going to happen, or what might happen."

Óin rubbed his temples. "All right. So what do you think you're possessive of, then? I'm assuming it's not gold. You're not that type of lass."

"No," Celia agreed, shaking her head, "I'm not. I think it might be the Company in general. And by that, I mean, like, you know. Like, what might happen to them, and stuff." She shrugged awkwardly. "Sorry. I know that was as clear as mud. Anyways, I was just wondering if you thought that maybe I was showing signs of it, or something."

"Ah." Óin nodded slowly, thinking, while Celia waited anxiously for him to speak. "Well, let me ask you several questions, then. Would you risk your life to save one of the members of the Company?"

"Yes," Celia said immediately.

"All right. Do you think that what the others - such as my brother and Bombur, for example - are doing is harmless, or even good for them?"

"No."

"If they asked you about it, would you lie or tell them it was fine to keep them happy?"

"Well, I certainly hope I wouldn't."

"Would you put someone else at risk if it meant that someone from the Company would survive?"

Celia started to answer, then hesitated. "I don't think so?" she said uncertainly. "I mean, it sort of depends on the circumstances. Like, if we were in battle or something, and they were in danger I'd probably try to stop whoever was attacking them. Maybe even kill if I had to, depending on who we were fighting. But on the other hand, you guys are all experienced fighters. You'd probably be better off without me trying to intervene."

"Do you think there's a genuine possibility that you have the dragon sickness or the possessive inclination right now?"

"Isn't that the point of all this? Yes."

"What would you do if one of us asked you to do something you personally considered to be morally wrong?"

She shifted. "I mean, I'd probably say no. Maybe if it was for a good cause, like lying to protect someone. Or maybe if it was something minor, and possibly passive aggressive. Like, it probably wouldn't take that much for me to agree to bother annoying visitors that nobody liked. I'd totally be down for pranking them until they leave. Especially if I could get paid for it."

"Sorry, lass, I think Fíli and Kíli already have that job. Moving on. How much sleep have you gotten each night this week, and why?"

"I dunno. Maybe four hours on a good night, two or three most of the time. Worry was part of it, and nightmares made up a lot of them, too. I spent a lot of time wandering around with Kíli at night trying to exhaust myself enough that I could sleep without dreaming. Didn't really work, so most of my sleep was basically broken up into bits between nightmares."

Óin nodded, then turned to Elena. "Elena, how do you feel your sister has been behaving? Is there anything that has concerned you?"

"Lots, actually," Elena said, locking eyes with her sister. "But not in that sense. From everything I've seen, she's acting almost exactly like I would expect her to, just more sleep-deprived. She hasn't really seemed out of control in her worry, just maybe a little paranoid. And that was probably just made worse by lack of sleep."

Óin considered that, then turned back to Celia. "Have you been eating well?"

She looked down sheepishly. "No. Neither Kíli nor I have been very hungry, or, uh, feeling very sociable, so we usually didn't eat with the others."

"That's what I thought. You've lost a lot of weight, and it doesn't look healthy. Dwarves are meant to be solid, but you look more like a hollow reed apt to blow away in the wind than anything."

She raised an eyebrow at him skeptically. "I can't have lost more than a few pounds, if that. And that would hardly be enough to show."

"Your clothes are hanging off you more than they used to," Óin pointed out. "You were skinnier than you should be when you left Lake-town as it was. Now, you practically need to take your clothes in. I'm surprised Dori hasn't said anything about it. Not to mention that you're extremely pale and the bags under your eyes look deep enough to carry all this needless worry you've got going on. And that's after you slept most of yesterday and last night."

"It's not needless! Things obviously haven't been going super great here at the mountain while you guys were gone, you know," Celia protested indignantly.

"No, I grant your worry in that was, for the most part, deserved. I was referring to your worry that you might be sick as well." The older dwarf smirked at the look on her face. "I may not have much experience in dragon sickness, thank goodness, but I know the signs. And one of the major signs is a blindness to everything but your obsession. You don't show that. You're aware of and open to the possibility that you might have it. That's not something you would do if you had it. Right now, I'd say your problem is that you haven't been eating or sleeping enough. Can you tell me some of the side effects of sleep loss?"

Celia frowned, trying to think. "I think obesity is one of the long-term effects, hallucinations, dizziness, memory problems..." She slowed to a stop, suddenly feeling very stupid for the second time that day. "Decreased alertness and inability to concentrate." She slapped herself on the forehead. "Ugh! And to think that I thought I was staying on top of things! That's twice today, now!"

Óin chuckled. "Don't feel too bad. Kíli felt the same way when I talked to him."

"You talked to Kíli?" Elena interrupted. "When?"

"Last night, after you went to bed," Óin said complacently. "Believe it or not, he wanted to know if I could give him any advice for getting rid of the dragon sickness that he believed he had."

"Believed?" Elena repeated with a grin, side-eyeing her sister. "As in, not necessarily true?"

"You'd be correct," Óin smiled. "Poor lad was very worried about it, and wanted to be rid of it as soon as possible. He looked even more stunned when I told him he didn't have it. Didn't even have the possessive instinct anymore, which I'll grant he probably did have at one point, from the way he described it to me. Not anymore, though."

"You think Kíli's back to normal, too?" Celia perked up, a smile brightening her eyes.

Óin chuckled. "I wouldn't go so far as to say that Kíli was ever normal, but for him? Yes. He's virtually back to his own version of normal. A full night of sleep would probably take care of that completely, and same for you. I'd say that he did it all on his own, too. He recognized what he had, and fought back against it so completely that he most likely had the shortest-lived case of possessiveness in the history of dwarves. That takes a lot of inner strength." Óin stroked his beard contemplatively and eyed her teasingly. "I guess it's a good thing he had something - or should I say some _one_ \- to fight for."

Celia threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, face red. "What is it with you people and doing that? Why are you like this?"

"Because in the span of less than six months Kíli's matured to the point that he could easily be left in charge of Erebor should Thorin and Fíli both be unavailable for whatever reason. And do you know what else has happened in those six months? He met and befriended you," Óin pointed out. "Do you know how long his mother's been waiting for this?"

"You do realize he could have also matured because he went on a very dangerous quest where he and his friends almost died multiple times," Celia protested as Elena giggled in the background. "Why are you blaming me for this?"

"Oh, I'm not blaming you," Óin assured her. "I'm congratulating - and thanking - you. And the reason why is simple. Kíli's been in danger multiple times before. For extended periods of time, as a matter of fact. And he still never matured as much as he has these past few months. The same goes for you and Fíli too, by the way, Elena," he called over to her.

Elena choked on a piece of bread she had just shoved into her mouth. "Wh- what?" she croaked out, still coughing. "I thought we were teasing Celia. Why are you bringing me into this?"

"Because at my age I like to spread the suffering around, and you were looking a bit too complacent over there. Anyways, my point still stands. Kíli has matured remarkably in the last six months, and has shown incredible resistance to what was known to some as 'the Durin curse' due to its prevalence in that line."

Despite himself, Óin smiled proudly. "He is completely free of any effect from the dragon sickness, or possessive inclination, no matter what he may still believe himself. And so are you, lass. The main thing you both need at this point is food and some sleep. In fact, I suggest you just go and take a nap now until the stew is ready. You and Kíli."

Celia grumbled, but gave in, swallowing another piece of bread before following her sister and the healer.

"So what did Kíli think when you told him that he was back to normal?" Celia asked as Óin began to head back to the lookout.

"I don't think I've seen anyone look so relieved since I told Dis that her sons would actually mature at some point. And would you look at that, I've finally been proved right. I was starting to think I might owe her twenty coins."

Celia shook her head in exasperation as they stepped back outside. "You dwarves and your betting. I swear, you guys have a gambling addiction." Her face brightened. "Hey, look, there's Kíli! I'm gonna go talk to him. I can't wait to tell him neither of us are sick!"

Elena stood next to Óin and watched with a wide grin on her face as her sister ran up to Kíli and started talking animatedly, shortly thereafter swept up into a tight hug, both of them smiling so brightly it almost hurt to look at. She looked up with a smile at Óin to see him watching the scene fondly as well.

"It does the heart good to see innocence and love win over greed sometimes," he sighed.

"Yeah," she said fondly. Then she looked up at him calculatingly. "Two silver coins says Kíli does something to further the relationship by tonight," she offered, holding out her hand.

Óin nodded immediately, shaking it and sealing the deal. "Done."

* * *

 **A/N: So neither Kíli nor Celia is sick now... I wonder what influence that could have on the next chapter...**

 **I am back and ready to fight! I mean... write... about the battle that is coming up... :D**

 **Thank you guys so much for your understanding and patience while I took off the month of September. Your support has been amazing and I can't tell you how much I appreciated it. I feel so much better, and I have so many more ideas for this story, and have been able to work through several key points that I'd been struggling with (and even finally went back and edited those horrendous earlier chapters).**

 **I'm going to try and shoot for updates on Tuesday nights, but there will probably be times where I end up updating on Wednesday nights instead. FUTURE EDIT: Just kidding, I'll totally be updating on Wednesdays from this point.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, even while I was on hiatus, and shout-out to MissCallaLilly, Tibblets, Omgwhyyyyy, PhoenixLordess, Child of Dreams, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing!**

 _ **MissCallaLilly: Thank you so much! I can't tell you how much all these kind reviews made my day whenever I got them. I hope you liked this new chapter! :)**_

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 _ **Omgwhyyyyy: Thank you! I feel much better now, and definitely am looking forward to taking this story forward once more! Hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **PhoenixLordess: You guys are all so nice that honestly I felt tempted to come back early several times. ;D I feel so much better now, and I honestly have so many ideas for these next few chapters. Thanks for a lovely review, and I hope you enjoyed it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: Fear not! I am back once more to torment you with bad grammar and cheesy cliffhangers! Mwahaha. :D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Thank you! I feel a lot better now, and have a lot more material to work with now for these upcoming chapters. :) Hope you liked the new chapter! :D**_

 **Once again, thank you guys so much for your support, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **Specific Disclaimer: The Hobbit was not filled with near as many plot holes as my version. (Well, the books weren't, at least.) Regrettably, I must inform you that I am not JRR Tolkien, and thus do not own the Hobbit.**


	59. Chapter 59 - A Welcome Trespasser

Thranduil was sitting at his desk, bent over some paperwork from the _incident_ with the dwarves when a hasty knocking at his door interrupted him. The command to enter had barely left his mouth when Tahlia - one of the younger elves in the Guard - came bursting in, clothes amiss and panting heavily. Whatever message she had, it was clearly urgent. With that in mind, he set his paperwork to the side, careful to ensure that the ink didn't smear.

Raising an eyebrow at her disheveled appearance, he asked coolly, "What seems to be the matter, Tahlia? I trust it is urgent."

She nodded hastily, tugging her tunic back into place as she stood at attention. "My king, there is a matter that I believe requires your full attention at this moment."

"Indeed?" He suppressed a flare of amusement at her nod, obviously struggling to remain professional and not take great gasps of air. "Then I believe it would be wise to appraise me of the situation, would it not?" Two spots of pink appeared on her cheeks, and he felt his lips curl upwards. Oddly, though, she seemed to hesitate before answering, and he raised an eyebrow again. "Well?" he asked sharply, impatience coloring his tone.

"Apologies, my lord," Tahlia said hastily. "It is just that... well, I believe it may be best for you to observe the situation yourself."

He sighed, observing her languidly without leaving his seat. "This urgent matter cannot simply be explained to me, I must observe it for myself? Is there nothing which you can tell me, to ensure that I am not merely wasting my time? Or where I must observe?"

He got the sense that, were it not deemed unprofessional, Tahlia would be wringing her hands together. "Apologies, my lord. But I fear I cannot explain the situation correctly without you first being there. And the location is the Queen's Gardens."

Thranduil stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back and narrowing his eyes at her. Tahlia didn't flinch, but she did stand up straighter. "And tell me, Tahlia," he hissed. "What has happened in the Queen's Gardens that I am called there, when so few are allowed to enter it?"

Tahlia ducked her head in a light bow. "Please, my lord. If you would suffer yourself to accompany me to the gardens, I believe all will be explained satisfactorily. Please, my lord."

He searched her gaze, but found no answers, only earnest pleading. Whatever was at the gardens was something she truly believed he needed to see, and as a member of his Guard, she had earned the right to be listened to in matters like these.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Very well, Tahlia. I shall be there shortly," he dismissed her. Recognizing his tone, she bobbed her head in acknowledgement, and disappeared.

Once he was alone again, Thranduil sank back into his chair, gaze falling to the silver wedding ring on his left hand.

The Queen's Gardens.

A shudder ran through him. He had avoided them for so long after she disappeared, the pain still too fresh for him to seek out anything that reminded him of her. He had the royal gardeners take care of it, of course. Anything that held her memory was kept clean and fresh in honor of her. But... it still hurt too much, and so the Queen's Gardens was closed off to all but the gardeners, his son, and, occasionally, himself, when he was feeling particularly emotional.

Bereft of her companionship, he protected what was left of her with everything he had, from the gardens, to their bedroom, to their son. If she were here, she would doubtless tell him he was an overprotective fool for one reason or another.

If she were here, he would pull her into his arms and never let her leave again, no matter what she called him. If she were here, he would tell her he loved her a thousand times for every day that he couldn't.

But she wasn't.

Thranduil ran his thumb over the ring she had given him one last time and pressed a kiss to it, remembering the days when it was her ring he would kiss, and she would do the same to would give anything to be able to do that again.

Except now there was apparently a disturbance in her gardens, against his strict commands that they not be disturbed. Standing, he shook off the mood that had fallen over him and strode to the door, throwing it open and startling the two guards outside.

Good. It was best to keep them on their toes. (And amusing, though he'd never admit that particular thought out loud.)

Keeping his face expressionless, he strode through the palace halls until he came to the entrance to the gardens, where Tahlia stood waiting outside. She bowed when she saw him approaching. "Just through these doors, my king. I... believe it best that you enter alone to deal with this."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "I suppose I shall have to judge that for myself," he stated coolly.

Making a mental note to have a talk with the instructors on how to _properly_ explain situations, he pulled the gate open and slipped gracefully through into the gardens, shutting the door quietly behind him.

As always, as soon as he entered, he felt a painful tugging at his heart. Everything here, from the miniature waterfalls and ponds to the exotic flowers that graced the landscape, was a testimony to her tender care. But nothing here had been disturbed, nor was there any sign that anything was amiss, so he moved further in. Then, near the center of the garden, he stopped short.

Bent over the blossoms - _her_ blossoms - was a hooded figure, leaning to pluck a flower from the bush. Hot anger coursed through him, and he stopped, cold and tense.

"You must be skilled, to have entered these gardens without alerting my guards," he called, noticing with satisfaction the way the trespasser jerked and stood upright, the blossom clutched tightly in their hand. "Though, then you must surely also be aware of the penalty for picking one of the Queen's flowers. Your prize does not come cheaply."

"When last I was here, they were a gift. Much has changed since then, I see." The figure spoke in a husky feminine voice, sounding vaguely familiar in a way that only served to make his heart ache. They stretched a hand out from beneath their cloak and gestured to the garden. "And yet, nothing is changed. It appears that the change has all been internal. And perhaps not all of it has been good."

Thranduil snarled. He had no weapon close at hand, but neither did this impertinent stranger. It would be all too easy to subdue her and have his guards take her away. "There are few who dare to speak so to me. Fewer still who have the right. You have much bravery, or perhaps too much foolishness, that you would come into the dragon's den and provoke it so. Who are you?"

"A dragon, you say?" The voice was laden with humor. "Talk about irony. I do believe there's one right next door. But that doesn't matter, does it? Because it's not within your borders."

Thranduil grit his teeth. "As I have said, there are few who dare speak so to me. Particularly in my own home, when they seek to take that which is not theirs. Count yourself fortunate that I am feeling patient enough to not just throw you in the dungeons immediately. So I will ask a second time. Do not make me ask a third. Who. Are. You?"

The stranger tilted her head towards the blossom in her hand, then lowered her hood, revealing thick, golden hair that tumbled out over her cape. She slowly turned to face him, and he stumbled back as though she had struck him. Deep blue eyes he used to get lost in shone with tears, trickling out down her cheeks onto lips that he was oh so familiar with.

"And here I thought they were a wedding gift from you to me," she spoke softly, her voice rising back to her normal pitch, though not entirely steady. "A flower that was always in bloom to show your everlasting love." Her voice broke. "And it's still in bloom."

"Aredhel." Her name burst from Thranduil's lips as he searched her frame desperately for all the little hints that it was her. From the dimple in her cheeks to the nervous habit she'd never been able to kick of twisting her hair in her fingers, he couldn't help but ask pleadingly, "Is it really you?"

His wife - for it could only be her - looked back at him with teary eyes, and a trembling smile. "It is really me, my love. After all this time, the Valar have at last seen fit to bring us together again." She swallowed hard, eyes falling to the flower in her hand. "I - I thought it might be best, if - if we met in private so that..." She trailed off, looking uncertain and twisting a lock of hair again as she looked at the ground.

He covered the ground between them in a matter of seconds, placing a shaking hand on her cheek and stroking it, sucking in a shuddering breath when she leaned into it. Bringing his other hand up, he gently cupped her chin and lifted it so that she faced him. Wiping away her tears with his thumbs, he lowered his forehead to hers, rejoicing when her hands came up to stroke his face in return, both of them now weeping freely.

"Welcome home, my love," he whispered just before he claimed his lips with hers.

* * *

 **A/N: A lot of you guys had been wondering about where Laurel was, and I only had time for a shorter chapter this week, thus, Thranduil/Laurel reunion was born. (technically Thranduil/Aredhel, but tomato-tomahto.) Actually, this is only the first part, as obviously there's all the rest of it - explanations, and hugging, and Legolas reunion to go.**

 **HOWEVER: if you guys prefer, I can return to Elena/Celia and the rest of the gang in Erebor next week, and pick this up at a later date, or finish this up next week. Feel free to drop a review and let me know which you'd rather see, otherwise I'll probably just continue this next week.**

 **And I know a lot of you guys were expecting to see her get all huffy at Thranduil. That'll happen. ;) She was planning on it, too, but then she actually saw him for the first time, and, well... huffy or no, she still loves him. That can come later. ;)**

 **Also, I do apologize if Thranduil is ooc. I had a bit of trouble with him, but hopefully it's not too bad. :P I'll probably come back and polish up this chapter later.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Azure Ryukiba, Lady Silverstar2, Child of Dreams, and Moore4control for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Yep. Elena will definitely be getting some payback of her own. No telling when though... ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Azure Ryukiba: Yay! I'm really glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing! :D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: I'm glad you liked it! :) And speaking of Kíli and Celia... I think the next chapter for them should be... enlightening. I've been planning it for a long time, lol. Fíli and Elena might take a bit of work yet. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it! :D**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: Whaaaaat? I foresee no problems with Thorin having the Arkenstone. Why do you sound upset? 0:) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it :D**_

 _ **Moore4control: Aww, that's so sweet. Thank you! :) BOTFA is coming up very soon. D: I have lots of plans for it - that may or may not make a few people cross... *looks away shiftily* Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena, Celia, and Laurel/Aredhel.**


	60. Chapter 60 - Questions Without Answers

It might have been minutes, hours, or even days later for all he knew when Aredhel finally drew back from him, breathing uneven and thoroughly kissed. At some point they'd moved to one of the benches in the garden, and she was seated on his lap, wrapped securely in his arms.

"How long has it been?" she whispered, stroking his face tenderly. "It has been so long for me, but I fear it has been even longer for you. Your face is unchanged, but your eyes... they hold much pain, my love."

The pain spilled over onto his face, and he grimaced, closing his eyes before smoothing out his expression once more. "Too long. It has been almost two centuries by the count of man since I last saw your face, and though it is but the blink of an eye to an elf, each day to me has passed with painful slowness, dragging itself that I might feel the full weight of your loss."

His gaze shifted slightly to the left of her face and he smiled, tucking an errant lock of hair behind her once-again pointed ear the way he always used to do. "But what of you? How long were you in this... other world?"

Aredhel's blue eyes flashed open wide with sudden realization. "Wait. You knew I had been taken through a gate. How? I was alone when I was taken through."

He chuckled, placing a small kiss on her jaw, only drawing back a short distance. "I may have met a young dwarf female who claimed to know you, and had evidence to back up her claims. She knew of the gate as well, and had apparently herself been taken through one to this world."

Aredhel gasped and sat up straight, though he didn't let her go too far. "You met Elena. That's right! I remember!" She eyed him askance. "You locked her up in the dungeons, too."

Thranduil raised a perfectly-formed eyebrow at her. "And how would you know that? I would hope that you did not hide your return from me, and were only found out by accident."

The words were easily spoken, but he never could successfully hide his emotions from his wife, even now, and she hastened to reassure him.

"No, no, my love. When Tahlia found me in the Greenwood, as soon as I understood where I was, I insisted on being taken to you. I have been waiting to reunite with you for seventy years in the other world. I desired to wait no longer than I needed to."

Thranduil smiled crookedly down at her, hiding his relief under a smug aura. "I should hope not. It was Tahlia who found you and brought you here, you say? Remind me to increase her wages. And her training," he added as an afterthought, then frowned as he realized what she'd said. "Seventy years? It was seventy years for you?"

She nodded, eyes glazing over as she almost became lost in her memories. "It was awful, Thranduil. It was a world of only men, and when I woke, I found I had become one of them, albeit I aged very slowly if at all. But I could handle that. I knew that I had been taken through a gate, and if I just waited long enough, I would eventually return. But it was the waiting that killed me." Tears began to fill her eyes again, and he reacted instantly, tucking her against his chest under his chin and stroking her hair soothingly.

"There was so much senseless violence," she choked out. "So much senseless hatred. When I woke, I found myself in the start of what they called the Second World War, mere decades after the first. I was in a country whose leader judged everyone by their appearance and ethnicity, and deemed all those who fell short to be sub-human, and worthy of death."

She drew a shaky breath. "I survived because my blonde hair and blue eyes met his standards of perfection. But I watched a mother and her two children be gunned down simply because they were Jews - an ethnicity he deemed to be sub-human. The war lasted for six years, and caused untold devastation and loss of life. I did what I could to help, but... so many died, and there was nothing I could do! I was nearly killed myself several times over trying to help the resistance!"

Thranduil's arms tightened around her, reassuring himself that she was safe with him. "Was this man defeated?" he asked tightly. "Or did you further have to suffer under his reign?"

"He lost," she whispered. "After six long years, and a horrific discovery of what he'd done to his prisoners, he and his allies were defeated. I fled to another country called England and stayed there for twenty years while I tried to make a new life for myself. By then, people were starting to comment on my lack of aging, and I knew I had to leave. I moved across the ocean to another land called America and I stayed there in various places until I was pulled back yesterday. Aside from that first war, it... was not that dangerous, nor difficult to find a place to live," she said, eyes downcast. "But I think I would have faded, if I could, or crossed the Sea. Perhaps I was just too old to accept my new future," she added with a flash of humor.

"Or perhaps you found trouble living there because you left your heart here," Thranduil offered in a pained voice. "You are an elf of the forest, not a human, no matter what form you may have been forced to take. You were forced to abandon everything you knew for a world you did not. Do not blame yourself for that which is beyond your control."

Aredhel reluctantly pulled herself away from him and sat up straight, a flash of mischief running through her as she narrowed her eyes at him mischievously. "And when did you become so wise?" she teased him. "Where is the ellon I left behind who put his foot in his mouth on a regular basis?"

"Oh, he is still there, I can assure you of that," Thranduil promised her with a twinkle in his eyes before it faded and he became more serious. "But I have had to rule without your guidance for two hundred years, and many have been the struggles. The years have not been easy for either of us, I fear."

"No," his wife admitted. "They have not." Her lips curled upwards. "Though now we are together again, so we may take them on as a team once more."

"Indeed," Thranduil smirked, taking advantage of her closeness to kiss her again. It was meant to be short, but she followed after him when he started to pull away, and drew him back to her again - though he was most certainly not complaining.

"Don't think I've forgotten that you locked up my daughter," she warned with mock sternness when they finally separated again some time later. "Just because I let you kiss me senseless doesn't mean I'm forgetting about it."

Thranduil wrinkled his nose. "Your _daughter_ ," he pronounced the word carefully, "would not let me forget it either once she discovered our common relation. And they were trespassing. I could hardly let that just go without issue, what would the neighbors think?"

"Considering that they're about to become our new neighbors, I don't think they really approved," Aredhel informed him tartly. "And trespassing? Because they got confused by the darkness? When did that become a thing? Not cool, old man."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Your words are strange, wife," he teased her. "You are lucky I love you, or I would doubtless turn you over to an interpreter who might have better skill and less patience in translating your words. I can hardly understand you."

But instead of responding to his teasing words, her face softened at his admission, and she placed her hands on his cheeks once more. "I love you," she told him, putting every ounce of her affection into her words. She looked horrified when his eyes grew wet, and for a moment she looked panicked, wondering if she had said the wrong thing, or upset him somehow, and then -

"You are, and always will be, the only love of my life," he whispered, kissing her softly then resting his forehead against hers. "I never said it enough before, and I swore that should the Valar bless me enough that I might see you once more before I crossed to the Undying Lands, I would tell you of my love every day for the rest of our lives."

Her eyes were wet too, now, but she didn't bother wiping them as she gazed at her husband. "I never doubted it, even for a minute," she promised him, reaching under her tunic and pulling out the wedding ring she kept on a chain. "I had to sell everything else to survive, but I refused to sell this, no matter how desperate I became. Sometimes... sometimes this was all that got me through a tough night," she told him, unhooking the chain and pulling off the ring.

His eyes focused on it, and he took it from her carefully, looking it over. It was a single band made of white gold that featured a large round diamond in the center, and smaller round diamonds cascading around it in articulating steps to form a snowflake pattern. She always claimed that he'd gotten the idea for it (And his matching band) from the season they both loved. He insisted it was because they met in winter, during the first snow, and he'd been instantly taken with her.

She... had not been. (He used to say she was cold to him when they first met until she smacked him and said his awful sense of humor was why she didn't like him at first.)

Holding up her right hand, he slid it back onto her index finger, then lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the ring the way he always used to. "There were times when I doubted that I would ever see this on your finger again," he admitted quietly. "Times when I struggled for a reason to rise each morning, when I considered crossing the Sea and seeking healing. Legolas was fully grown, and more than capable of ruling, and if you had died, like I feared, then me crossing the Sea only meant I might see you that much sooner."

"But you didn't," Aredhel whispered needlessly.

"But I didn't," he confirmed. "It was not yet time for me to leave, and... I could not do that to our son. I couldn't deprive him of another parent so soon after he had lost the first one."

She looked away guiltily at the mention of her son. "And Legolas. Is he... How did..." She let the words die, bitter in her mouth.

He cupped her cheek affectionately and brought her back to face him, smiling fondly. "Legolas is an ellon to be proud of. He grieved, as did I, but he did not let his grief rule his life, and has become a worthy member of the Mirkwood Guard - along with Tauriel, who has become a captain in the Guard."

"Has she? Oh, good," Aredhel grinned. "I always knew she would do well for herself."

Thranduil harrumphed. "She has. She's taken her place as captain, and possibly a place in our son's heart. He is noticeably fond of her."

"Aww," Aredhel cooed. "Just think. Our grandchildren could have red hair. I always wanted red hair growing up, but I wouldn't mind if it just got passed along to our grandchildren instead."

Thranduil stared at her as though she'd gone mad. "Legolas and Tauriel? Grandchildren - what? You've only just been back for a few hours, and you're already planning our son's marriage? To Tauriel?"

"Don't tell me you disapprove because she's not royal," his wife raised an eyebrow at him warningly. "You're disturbing my carefully-laid plans for the future."

He rolled his eyes in a very undignified manner. "I'm the only elvish king around, love. If I wanted our son to marry an elvish princess I would doubtless be searching for another age. She has proven herself to be loyal and trustworthy, and that means more to me than a royal lineage. However, I am hesitant because I do not believe either of them to be ready to pursue a romantic relationship at this point. I would not have either of them be hurt when it can be avoided."

Aredhel laid her hand atop his, smiling when his face softened as she did so. "Your intention is admirable, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Sometimes you cannot stop them; you can only prepare them and pray for the best. Both of them are of age, even if Tauriel is still rather young for an elf. Do you remember how we were, when we were first in love? The mistakes and heartaches we had to go through? Was it not worth it in the end?"

"That was different," Thranduil informed her loftily. "That was me, and not my son."

"Your son, who is over a thousand years old?" she teased him. "I think he's old enough to have his first crush."

"As is your daughter," Thranduil said wryly. "Lady Elena appeared quite taken with Thorin's golden-haired nephew, and he with her, although I must admit my interactions with the latter were brief, and consisted of me casting their whole group to the dungeons." Aredhel's eyes went wide again, and he groaned. "I've made a mistake telling you that, haven't I?"

"Grand-babies!" Aredhel squealed, clapping her hands together excitedly and making him roll his eyes again fondly. "Golden-haired grand-babies! I never got to see the girls as babies, they were children when I adopted them, but now I might get the chance to see how they might have looked! Oh, isn't this just exciting! Wait, what about Celia?"

Thranduil frowned quizzically. "Celia? That is Lady Elena's younger sister, is she not? She was not with the group when they were found, nor were two others who were missing. I believe they made it out of the forest safely, however, as there was no sign of them in the forest when we searched for them."

"That's right," Aredhel nodded suddenly, eyes glazing over in memory. "That's what I dreamed. She fell in the river, and had to be carried by the dark-haired prince until she woke up, and then they got separated from the rest of the Company. They must have found each other, though, as I know they all made it to Erebor safely."

"Erebor?" Thranduil's gaze sharpened. "I think it best if we both explained what has happened in the past before we create any more questions."

She nodded, fiddling with his fingers to distract herself. "Yes, I think that would be best. I had better start with how I met the girls. It's been about fourteen years for me since I first met them in the orphanage, and I decided to adopt them a short time later. And that's when I found out that they both had birth lockets fashioned by dwarves, and made out of mithril..."

xXx

"And so it was when I returned home that night that I first noticed the strange pulling sensation," Aredhel continued her explanation to Thranduil. "It took me some time, I'll admit, to figure out what was really going on, but when I did, I quickly changed back into the clothes I'd worn on my arrival, and hurried to the site where Elena and Celia had been taken. It... it was strange. Last time, I was knocked unconscious upon arrival. This time, I was found almost immediately by Tahlia."

She smirked. "We both drew our bows on each other at the same moment, before she recognized me. She insisted on taking me back, which I was profoundly grateful for, as much has changed in the forest since I have been gone."

She gazed out into their forest with sorrow in her eyes, seeing how much of their realm the darkness had overtaken. "I knew it was now called the Mirkwood forest, knew that darkness had fallen upon it, but... seeing how much of it has overtaken woods where we once roamed freely, it hurts my heart. Can you not hear the very trees crying out?"

She turned to look up at him with wet eyes, and he felt his heart clench in his chest, wanting to kiss every tear from face and protect her from every evil, all the more so for his failure to do so in the past.

"Yes." His tone was as pained as hers had been. "And more cries join the chorus every year. The darkness has been relentless, ever yearning to push back our borders and destroy our people. We have learned to be constantly vigilant, to fight back. We have lost much, but we have learned to rely on ourselves, to be strong where others have faltered." He ran a hand gently along her cheek. "But the greatest loss we suffered was the day we lost you."

She lifted her hand up to press against his, curling her fingers around his. "You're becoming sentimental in your old age. Times really have changed," she teased him. "What next, are you going to going to befriend the dwarves of Erebor?"

"I shall have to, shall I not?" he practically pouted, playing it up in hopes of hearing her laugh once more. "If everything you tell me is true, you've adopted two of their dwarves, and I hardly think you would leave them behind."

"You would think correctly. A surprising thing, that," she mused, giggling into her hand at his cry of outrage, peering up at him with mischievous blue eyes flashing over her hand in such a way that he couldn't help but tug her hand down for another kiss. And another. And another.

Regretfully, she pulled away after that, although he noticed with pride that it took her a minute to compose herself. "Is this how you handle things now? If someone bests you in a conversation, you shut them up by kissing them?"

"Hardly, my love," he rolled his eyes. "Imagine how the diplomatic talks would go."

"Well, I don't think there'd be much talking going on, actually..."

"Are you implying that all my diplomatic engagements would end with someone besting me in a battle of wits?"

"Well, that's not how it would _end_ , if they bested you, but..."

"I'm starting to think that you're looking for me to silence _you_ with a kiss..."

"Are you implying that I'm besting you in -"

He could feel her grin against his lips as he tugged her to him, but she stopped talking, so he counted it as a win. He pulled away with a breathless groan, resting his forehead against hers. "You, my love, are as much trouble as you ever were."

"Well, I should hope so," she told him flirtatiously, fluttering her eyelashes at him teasingly. "You told me you liked my spirit."

He huffed a laugh. "I told you that when I first met you around four thousand years ago, and you showed none of the flattery and subservience that everyone else around you did. You need not have taken it as the only way to keep my attention. I promise you, it is not the only reason I fell in love with you."

She snorted. "'Fell in love,'" she repeated with a scoff. "As if you went willingly! As I recall, you went and hid in your halls for several years when you first believed yourself to be attracted to me! Let me tell you, that did wonders for my confidence."

He hastily shushed her. "We agreed not to bring up the mistakes of our past, my love. The past is in the past, if you remember."

She hummed disbelievingly. "Is that why nothing in my gardens has been changed, Elsa? Because you refused to move on?"

He frowned, hearing the loss of levity in her voice. "I changed nothing because it was yours. I wished to honor your memory, and... should I one day have been so blessed as to have you return to me, I wished you to find it as you had left it. One does not so easily move on from the loss of the love of their life, Aredhel. And Legolas... our son took comfort in coming here, and being reminded of you even though it grieved him."

He sighed. "Believe me. There were days when I wished that I could just tear them all down so that they would not be here as a constant reminder of your loss. But every time I felt tempted to give the order... I would come in here and find that I could not bear to part with a single bush that I knew you had planted with tender care. Even when your roses stopped blooming, I could not find it within myself to remove them." He felt his eyes glaze over as he recalled that terrible day when they'd brought him news of his wife's loss.

 _He'd been in the garden, tending to the flowers he'd given her, smiling at the thought of his gift. It had been a difficult month for them both - the darkness had been encroaching further on their borders, and he'd often been called away to deal with dwarves and their frequent issues, while she'd had to deal with problems their people presented back home._

 _But now, he was back. Their borders were holding, for the time being, and he had placed a special request with the dwarves in exchange for free passage through Mirkwood. He knew it would take quite some time to fulfill his order, but he also knew their skill when working with the white gems. He could wait, and he knew the look on her face would be worth having to deal with the dwarves._

 _Except... something was wrong. He could feel it. An aching in his heart that grew worse and worse until it formed into something sharp and painful, and he felt a literal tearing in his soul, though he didn't know the reason why. He cried out and sank to his knees, staring at his shaky hands and wondering why the world had suddenly blurred._

 _When it cleared, he found himself staring at the rose bush in horror. Every single blossom - previously in full and brilliant bloom - had withered, the petals curling in on themselves in gray and brown before falling to the ground._

 _And in his heart, he knew._

 _"Aredhel," he whispered, rising to his feet at the sound of rushing footsteps and whipping around in time to see Rhaden, one of his guards, approaching with a pale face and torn clothes, dirt and blood - not all of it his - staining them._

 _"My king," the guard whispered, falling to one knee and placing his fist over his heart. "There was an orc raid in the forest, beyond the borders. We believe they wished to locate the gate. However..." He lifted tortured eyes to his king. "The Queen's party was nearby, and fought back. We took heavy losses, and the Queen... the Queen has gone missing."_

 _No._ _No. Not her._

 _He felt the blood rushing from his face and swayed, staggering back a step as the world seemed to pull itself out from underneath him. Rhaden stepped forward, an arm reaching out to steady him before he pulled back, hesitant of the protocol when it came to touching the king in situations like these._

 _"My king, are you all right?"_

 _He swallowed hard. "What happened to the orcs?"_

 _"They fled. We killed most of them, the rest - two or three, perhaps - fled south."_

 _He took a deep, shuddering breath, hot anger coursing through his veins and steadying him. He let it wash out anything else he might be feeling, block out anything that might hinder him._

 _"Bring me my sword, and ready another war party."_

 _"My- my king?"_

 _"I'm going after her. Say nothing to my son, I do not wish him to worry needlessly should my wife be found safe. And if not... I will not have him be told his mother is lost by someone who is not family."_

When he opened his eyes again after his tale, he found Aredhel's eyes filled with tears and her nails digging into her hands as she blinked back tears. "Oh, my love. I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone. I thought that it was just a side effect from the gate when I woke up feeling as though my very soul had been torn asunder."

He pulled her fingers back from her palms and kissed the indents they had made before resting her hands against his heart. "I will not deny that it was one of the most difficult times of my life, rivaled only by my time in the War of the Last Alliance, but it has started healing. For the first time in two hundred years, my soul is no longer crying out for my other half. For so long, I feared I would only find rest in the Undying Lands, but I knew I could not yet leave. But now, now I am finally at rest, and my soul is at peace."

Aredhel fought back more tears before giving up and hiding her face in his chest, curling up into him as she used to whenever she was upset. He could feel his tunic growing damp, but said nothing as he brought up a hand to rub her back comfortingly, fighting back a few tears of his own.

And if ever any were shed, well... neither of them would ever admit it.

At last she drew back, trying to put on a mischievous smile once more, though it still wobbled dangerously. "So... you said something about getting me a present? What are the chances of me getting it today?"

To her visible surprise, he grew grimmer instead, though he didn't let himself shut her out as he'd grown used to doing with all but his son on rare occasions. "Not very likely, I'm afraid. And that would be a part of my explanation."

"Well, I've been told I'm a good listener, if you wish to talk," his wife offered. "Do you want me to move?"

She made to get off his lap, but he restrained her gently. "No, I like having you here," he smirked, watching as color flooded her cheeks, then continued in a quieter, more honest vein. "It helps, actually. It helps remind me that you're really here."

"Good. Because I didn't really want to move," she informed him smartly, snuggling back up against his chest.

"You may wish to later," he said heavily, thinking of a few events he would have to dredge up. She looked up at him curiously, but waited for him to speak, deliberately drawing his arms tighter around her.

He sighed, trying to decide where best to start. "After you... left... relations with Erebor grew strained. Looking back, I now realize that King Thror was falling under the effects of the gold be sickness, but at the time, I believed him to be going back on his word, and insulting. The situation reached a breaking point when I went to pick up a... piece I had ordered a few months after you had left. I gave Thror the materials he needed to make it; gold and silver, and white gems of pure starlight that were passed down from my father. I intended them to be a gift for you, and he knew this."

He ran his fingers absently through her hair as he dredged up all the old memories. "You were believed dead when they were supposed to be ready, but I wished to pick up the necklace anyways, as the gems themselves were heirlooms, and, perhaps at some point, I would have passed them on to Legolas, should he ever have taken a wife. But when I went to take it, Thror kept the gems out of greed. He made some paltry claim that I never paid for them, but I had already made an agreement that they would receive free passage in exchange for the necklace, and a small sum in addition to be paid after I received it. He claimed to have no record of any such agreement."

He narrowed his eyes at the memory, but couldn't help a smile when he felt his wife stroke his arm soothingly, though it didn't last long as he continued. "I obviously refused to pay, and they refused to return the gems, and we parted in anger, although we managed to maintain our alliance on very shaky footing."

He sighed. "And even that fell when the dragon attacked the mountain. I had heard of their distress, and brought my army, but when I saw Smaug in all his might laying waste to Dale and Erebor, and the dwarves fleeing, I knew I could not face him. We had faced our own devastating losses recently, both with your loss, and a recent onslaught of spider attacks that killed many and forced us to fall back. My army was not enough to take on a dragon of his size, and had we tried, we would have been slaughtered. We wouldn't have been able to protect ourselves, let alone them."

"Smaug is the greatest dragon left in Middle Earth," Aredhel whispered. "I understand your struggle. No matter how much it hurts, our people must come first."

Thranduil nodded slowly. "After the War of the Last Alliance, I swore that never again would I lead my people to near certainty of death for another's cause. I looked at Smaug, and I saw my father, and my people, dying before the Black Gate of Mordor. And so... I turned back. I would not risk my people for a fight we could not win."

"That's not the last of your tale, is it, though?" his wife said quietly, looking up at him. "It doesn't end there. You carry too much guilt for that to be your only reason." He hesitated, thinking of his later actions, and she placed her hand on his heart comfortingly. "Thranduil, my love, whatever it is you may have done, I will always love you. No matter what. I may smack you for doing something stupid, but I will still love you."

His lips twitched in what might have been a smirk, but his tone was somber when he continued, resting his chin atop her head. "I offered my aid once, through letter, to Thror. When I received no reply, I assumed it to be a negative response, and left it at that. I didn't offer it again, though I knew they desperately needed it. In my anger over their slight several years before, I never even bothered to ensure that they got my letter, and did the bare minimum that decency required, if that."

He shook his head. "I know that they suffered greatly for it, and that I could have eased that a great deal, even without the consent of their king, but I never offered it again. And perhaps they never knew, for they consider me an oathbreaker, among other, less than complimentary things, for my refusal to help and lack of aid. And perhaps they're right, as I sought no dealings with them after that, and they sought none with me."

Aredhel considered his tale for a tense minute before stretching up and placing a kiss against his jaw, startling him and making her smile. "I will admit that you perhaps didn't act as best as you could," she started, kissing his jaw again. "But the dwarves were not wholly innocent in this matter, no matter what they may claim. And perhaps Thror did receive the message, but in his madness, told no one, and let them believe a lie. You cannot be blamed for his actions, only your own."

Thranduil hummed consideringly as he picked up her hand and studied her wedding ring, playing with it in his fingers as he pretended to be wholly unaffected by her kissing his jaw. "Perhaps, but it requires two partners to dance. Whatever Thror may have done, I let it affect me, and others bore the consequences of my anger."

Aredhel glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow in a way that made him run over his past statement, because something about it just _screamed_ danger. "Two partners to dance? My love, are we back to kissing others to silence them at diplomatic events? I thought you reserved that only for me." Her lower lip extended in a pout.

He somehow resisted the obvious temptation she presented and shrugged nonchalantly. "You _were_ gone for two hundred years," he reminded her casually, pretending to study his nails and hiding a smirk at her gasp of outrage. She made to clamber off of him, and he dropped the pretense, hauling her back onto his lap and pressing a kiss against the corner of her mouth with a chuckle. "You have always been the only one for me," he promised her, placing another kiss on the opposite side.

"And you, me," she promised him in return, drawing him down for a proper kiss, both quickly forgetting the conversation as they were distracted by other matters.

They stayed there for several hours, until the sun was setting in the sky and the moon was starting to rise, before either of them thought of leaving. And even then, it was only to announce a feast to be held for her return - although it was not to be heralded as such - the next night, when Legolas and Tauriel would have returned from their most recent patrol.

After passing on the orders for a feast the next night, Thranduil returned to his wife, and would happily have spent the rest of the week alone with her, but they were disturbed a mere hour later with urgent news.

Tahlia - the only one allowed in the gardens at present as she knew of the Queen's return - knelt before them both, seated on one of the benches. "I apologize for my interruption, Your Majesties, but I bring urgent tidings. The dragon Smaug has left his den in Erebor and has started attacking Lake-town. Early reports indicate that this is not a foray for food, but rather an attempt to completely wipe it off the map. I was directed to inform you as soon as possible."

"You acted in wisdom, Tahlia," his wife assured the elleth. "I know why Smaug attacked Lake-town, as does my husband, but it is best that we are aware of his whereabouts at all times, as we do not know where his wrath may lead him after he destroys Lake-town." Thranduil growled, drawing the surprised attention of his wife. "Thranduil?"

"Of course he would rouse a dragon the night that you return," he grumbled, rubbing his temple where he could feel a headache beginning to form. "That's exactly the type of thing he would do."

"My love?" Aredhel questioned him.

Thranduil sighed. "Thorin Oakenshield. I may have irritated him the last time he was here - although he made sure to return the favor, I assure you - and I'm sure he did this on purpose to interrupt us."

"Thranduil, how could he possibly have known I was going to return this night? Or that Smaug would attack? Their whole plan was to stop that from happening."

Thranduil shook his head determinedly and stood up, offering a hand to help her up as well. "You do not know this dwarf as I do, my queen. I would not put anything that causes me irritation past him. Because now we must go and offer our support to any survivors, which means a large disruption to my schedule. I know you said we would need to go to Erebor anyways, for some purpose of which I am yet unaware -"

He eyed her, and she assumed an innocent - but still amused - look. "But I would travel to Erebor anyways. He has gone too far! He trespasses on my lands, insults me in my very home, destroys my wine barrels, attracts orcs inside our very borders, and now, keeps me from having a proper reunion with my wife. No, this is too much!"

"My love, are you so sure -"

"I will have words with this dwarf!"

* * *

 **A/N:** ** ** **There you have it. The real reason Thranduil went to Erebor was because he was cross with Thorin.******

 **Honestly, this chapter was a bit of a quandary to write, because a lot of people wanted to see Laurel kick Thranduil's rear for the way he behaved in the past, while others wanted to focus more on the reunion. It didn't feel right to have Laurel wanting to pick a fight so soon after finally reuniting with her husband, so I tried to focus more on that here, but she and Thranduil will end up hashing out a few things (most likely when they get to Erebor, as Thorin tends to bring out the worst in Thranduil).**

 **Also, Laurel is totally a mom who ships her children with others**

 **In other news, the story about the necklace that Thror kept and Thranduil's reasoning about Smaug's first attack in Erebor was me taking a bit of information and playing around with it, it is not canon.**

 **Also, I'm referring to Laurel as Aredhel in this chapter because it's Thranduil's POV, and he sees her as Aredhel. He's never known her as Laurel.**

 **Edit: Elves wear their wedding rings on their right hands, not their left. Special thanks to Tibblets for pointing that out to me. *facepalm***

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Tibblets, Omgwhyyyyy, PhoenixLordess, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, Child of Dreams, and E for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Tibblets: That's probably what I'll end up doing, tbh, as I haven't been able to write longer chapters lately. :P And yeah. Book Thranduil is a lot nicer than movie Thranduil. I've been trying to find a happy medium, so I guess we'll see how that goes. :/ Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Omgwhyyyyy: Aww, thanks! I wasn't able to delve too much into things here - they were both just kind of all over the place, but things have started rolling now, so we'll see where they go from here. :) I'm really glad you like Laurel and my version of Thranduil too, it's really encouraging! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 ** _PhoenixLordess: Aww, I'm glad I was able to help, even if it was just a little bit. More sweetness here, simply because that's what I felt fit. However... I about died laughing when I saw your 'porcelain posterior' line. Can I use that later? (It'd probably show up around when they get to Erebor and she takes on Thorin and Thranduil, because tbh, Thorin's behavior is what's really going to set her off). Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :D_**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal: No one's been put in their place yet, as I didn't feel it quite fit the mood yet... but there's still likely one chapter to go, annnnd them joining Thorin in Erebor will really set Laurel off, as Thorin and Thranduil just don't mix. (Just a little hint for ya there, if it makes the waiting period any better). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Lady Silverstar2: Aww, thanks! Yeah, I've been looking forward to the reunion for a while too, but now that I finally am able to write it, time constraints are getting in my way. :P Hopefully the next chapter will be longer. All well. Thanks for a great review, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Child of Dreams: Haha, yep! Only took 60 chapters, but they're back together!  
P.S. Basically, yeah. Thorin is not very nice when it comes to rocks. I think he skipped that lesson in playtime as a child. :/ Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _E: No worries. As you can tell, RL has been giving me some issues of my own. :P I'm feeling a lot better, and have a ton of ideas for this - when I get the chance to write them. Thorin and the Arkenstone is definitely not a good mix. IDK who thought it was a good idea to let him find it, but I don't think they knew what they were doing... I'm glad you liked the Kília lol, more will be coming soon, although Fíli/Elena are taking their sweet time (although there may be a reason for that). And Laurel is finally back! She's having some sweet reunion with Thranduil first, and then they're off to Erebor, where they will reunite with everyone else and then, because Thranduil and Thorin are NOT a good mix, Laurel will most likely get her chance to properly tell them off. Arrows will most likely be involved. :D I'm looking forward to writing it, tbh. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 **Edit: Elves wear their wedding rings on their right hands, not their left. Special thanks to Tibblets for pointing that out to me. *Facepalm***

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	61. Chapter 61 - Trust

~~ Celia ~~

Celia swam back to consciousness slowly, stretching her arms out and groaning as something popped. Moving her head out from underneath her blankets, she blinked blearily at the light in the room and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Did you have a good nap?" Her sister's teasing voice interrupted her slow thoughts.

Celia yawned, then sat up, shoving the blankets down to her waist. "Sure. If by good you mean weird." She rubbed her eyes again to clear them, smiling when she saw Kíli asleep on his mat beside her, arm tossed over his face and the hair in front of his mouth fluttering softly every time he breathed. "When did you guys get here?"

She looked over at her sister, only then realizing that she was curled up against the wall, sketching in a notebook that she'd most likely borrowed from Ori, her own having been appropriated by the Mirkwood elves. Fíli sat next beside her, watching over her shoulder, careful not to lean against her bad arm.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Elena asked, not lifting her eyes from her drawing.

"Uh... The last thing I remember is getting some stew from Bombur, then coming back here and passing out. I think you and Fíli were talking to Balin and Bilbo at the time."

"We were talking - about how much you guys needed a nap," Elena agreed easily. "Mainly because Kíli looked almost dead on his feet, and I could use the bags under your eyes to hold the contents of my pack."

Celia grimaced, not disagreeing. "How long have we been asleep?"

Elena shrugged, looking up from her notepad and glancing at the fading light in the room. "I don't know. A couple hours? You fell asleep shortly after lunch, and I think we'll be having dinner soon. So maybe more than that. Five or six, maybe? I don't know."

"Six hours? Ugh." Celia wrinkled her nose, digging around for her water skin before downing half the contents. "I believe you. My mouth feels really dry."

"Hard to believe with all that drooling you were doing," Elena teased her. "I think there's a small puddle."

"Liar," Celia retorted, wiping her mouth anyways and sticking her tongue out at her sister when her hand came away dry. "What are you doing in here, anyways? Why aren't you at the party?"

"Ah, yes. The party of fun and awesomeness," Elena said dryly. "Where half the guests are mad and have no sense of humor on a good day. Nah. We tried to stick it out for a bit, but after Bilbo and Balin got distracted, I kind of zoned out until Fíli suggested we come hang out here and watch you guys sleep like creepy people."

"I did not," Fíli protested, nudging her side with his elbow. "I suggested we wait here because neither of us felt like exploring, and you lot are the closest thing I have left to sane companions. After Balin. And Bilbo. And Óin," he added as an afterthought.

"Well, gee, thanks. It's nice to know I made it on your list of semi-sane people, even if it is near the bottom," Celia grumbled, freeing herself from her blankets and settling herself fully on top of them. "Any ideas on what to do now? Two truths and a lie? Truth or dare? Awkwardly stare at each other until someone starts a decent conversation?"

Elena scoffed. "You can awkwardly stare. I'm going to work on my drawing. But I don't think we should do any serious conversation until Kíli wakes up, to avoid having to repeat ourselves." She sobered. "It's going to be hard enough to explain once."

Fíli nodded somberly. "But let's not wake up Kíli until we have to. I don't think he's slept more than a few hours this whole week."

Celia shook her head, glancing over at the sleeping prince. "He hasn't. He was up every time I was, either still awake when I fell asleep, or waking me up from my nightmares, and I hardly slept this week." She turned back to her sister and Fíli. "So let's talk about something else. What are you drawing, Elena?"

Elena smirked, patting the seat next to her before returning to her drawing. "You can take a look if you want. I have to warn you, though, I've only really focused on part of it so far. It's not done yet."

"Well, that's just too bad. I'm going to judge you on all of it," Celia snarked, plopping down by her sister and peering over her shoulder. "Is that... us? From earlier?" she asked, wrinkling her nose and fighting a blush at the scene.

Right in line with Elena's earlier teasing, she had drawn a highly-detailed Celia and Kíli in the moment where they were hugging, Kíli's forehead resting on the top of her head, eyes closed and a relaxed smile on his face. Elena and Fíli, still just rough outlines at this point, hovered at the edge of the scene, clearly just about to join in on the hug.

"Nice sketch," she commented evenly, not wanting to say more.

"Thanks." Elena grinned, and Celia instantly knew her next comment was going to be teasing. "I thought about drawing you two sleeping, since you made for a cute picture, angled towards each other the way you were, but decided to go with this one instead." She snickered at Celia's grumbling, adding shadows to Celia and Kíli's figures.

Celia and Fíli watched her draw in amiable silence for a while, the picture slowly coming to life as she developed it further, scrubbing out parts she didn't like and redoing them. At last, halfway through her fourth attempt at Fíli's face, she dropped her pencil with a sigh and rubbed her face with her good hand.

"You done?" Celia asked her sister with a raised eyebrow.

Elena wrinkled her nose. "I need a break. If Fili's face wasn't so darn difficult, maybe I could be done by now, but noooo, he just has to cause problems for me," she complained dramatically.

Fíli snickered. "Sorry my face won't be easily transferred to paper. No one's ever complained about it being a problem before."

Elena sniffed. "Well, you should really look into getting that fixed. It's highly inconvenient."

Fíli rolled his eyes, but changed the subject rather than return the jab. "Celia, you mentioned that you had a weird dream while you were asleep. Was it similar to the ones you've experienced earlier this week? Or was it just a regular dream that made no sense?"

Celia's eyes widened. "I didn't even think about that. I mean, Elena wasn't asleep at the same time, so who knows if that affected it at all, but I think it was kind of similar to the rest of them. I mean, it felt real, and played out like a normal situation would. I dreamed..." She faltered. "I dreamed that Mom was back. It was a little weird, though. She looked different. Like, she was an elf, complete with elvish clothing and weapons, and she was fighting in a battle."

Her eyes met her sister's. "I think it was _the_ battle. Kíli was there, and he was talking to her. They both looked really worried about something." She sighed. "Like I said, it was pretty weird. I don't know if it means anything or not, though. Elena wasn't asleep, so we can't use her dreams to determine any similarities."

"Well... remember what I told you in Lake-town?" Elena asked after a minute. "When you were helping me clean up at Bard's house?"

Celia frowned, trying to think. Elena had said a lot of stuff in Lake-town. But what in particular... She sucked in a breath as the memory suddenly hit her. "Wait. You mean, what Thranduil said, about, about her being.. and the gate opening... you think this is it?" She stumbled over her words excitedly. "You think this means she could be coming back really soon?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Fíli held his hands up in the air pleadingly. "Slow down a minute, please, for the dwarf who _didn't_ spend most of his life in another world. What do you mean, you saw your mother in our world as an elf? And Thranduil? What does he have to do with her? And how does this all relate to this battle you keep mentioning but never actually explaining?"

"Sorry," Celia said sheepishly.

Elena wrinkled her nose as she tried to think of a way to explain it. "I don't think we should explain it without Kíli. Maybe we should wake him up for this?" she said regretfully at last.

"No need," a sleepy voice interrupted, startling them all. "I'm already awake."

"Kíli! You're awake!" his brother exclaimed. "How long have you been awake?"

Kíli sat up straight, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes, and Celia tried _really_ hard to focus on how unfair it was that his messy hair was so much more attractive than hers rather than how attractive _he_ actually was - and failed.

"Since Celia got excited about her mother possibly coming back." He shot her a smirk, and her heart skipped a beat. "You have many talents, Celia, but keeping quiet when you're excited is not one of them."

She eeped sheepishly. "Sorry."

He chuckled, shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame it, only being partially successful. Much to her annoyance, it only served to distract her further, and she had to struggle to keep her eyes on his face, and not his hair. "It doesn't matter. I'm awake now, and I can always sleep later. We might not have the chance to discuss this later if this battle comes soon and we're all focused on preparations."

A loud clatter and an off-key drinking song were heard in the tunnel approaching them, and he grimaced. "Maybe we should continue this somewhere a bit privater and less likely to be intruded upon."

"Will we be missed?" Celia asked in concern as they all got to their feet and followed the dark-haired prince out another tunnel as he grabbed a torch to light their way.

Fíli shook his head. "If they haven't noticed or complained about our absence yet, it's likely they won't start now. If anything, they'll probably decide we're exploring Erebor. And Thorin did say today was a day of celebration, so he can't really say we did anything wrong by choosing to celebrate by exploring."

"Watch the cobwebs, Celia," Kíli called back, ducking his head under a particularly large one hanging in between the walls and holding up his torch so Celia could see more clearly.

"Thanks," she returned, ducking under the web with a grimace. "To be honest, I'm surprised there aren't more of them around. Not that I'm complaining," she added hastily. "It's just...no one's been back here for almost two hundred years, and yet the dust has been the worst thing so far."

Kíli shrugged, leading them through several twists and turns until the tunnel opened into a large hall, with doors and hallways lining both sides. "I think Amad mentioned once that something in the rocks in Erebor tended to repel most spiders? I don't know. She was complaining to Della, Glóin's wife, about how Ered Luin had so many more spiders to deal with than Erebor, and she was constantly getting rid of their webs."

"Well, when all of this is over, I am freaking filling my room with those rocks," Celia declared as Kíli led them down one of the hallways on the left.

He hesitated before a set of double doors, elaborately decorated, but shook his head and went to a set a few corridors further down instead, pushing them open to reveal a large room, decorated with dusty tapestries and carvings, and a large wooden table in the center, chairs scattered around it and tipped over. Large windows had been carved into the wall on the far side overlooking the mountainside, and a broken chandelier hung from the ceiling. Lighting a few torches still set in their sconces along the wall and setting his in another, he set one of the chairs upright by the table and sat down, the others following his example.

"From what I can tell, I think this is one of the meeting rooms that council members would use when they had to discuss new laws to suggest, or various issues that needed to be laid before the king," he explained. "There were no footprints in the dust leading up to here before I found it, and no new ones after, so we're unlikely to be disturbed by the others while we talk."

Celia nodded from her seat beside him, Fíli across from her and Elena beside him. "Right. The first meeting of... I don't know, The Secret Keepers of Erebor is hereby called to order."

Fíli snorted, folding his hands on the table. "Lovely name. First order of business is not to change the name, however much it may be needed, but explanations. Preferably starting with your mother, as I think it'll be less confusing than the battle."

"Okay, first of all, rude," Celia pointed out in protest. "Second of all, uh... where do we start? Elena? You probably know the most about this."

Elena sighed, rubbing her hand across her face. "That's still not very much. Okay. Starting when Fíli and I are still being held prisoner with the rest of the Company in Mirkwood while you two and Ori were off gallivanting around the forest. Thranduil took me off for interrogation or whatever every day. Remember?" she asked the blond prince.

Fíli nodded. "You never really explained why."

She hummed. "That's because it would have been really awkward to try and explain that he was helping me come up with a way to escape the dungeons." She chuckled at the immediate uproar from both Fíli and Kíli, and nodded in confirmation in response to her sister's questioning look. "Okay. Really starting from the beginning this time." She addressed Fíli. "As you know, we were all searched, correct?"

He nodded, eyes narrowed and watchful.

"Well, I wasn't super thrilled about this, but apparently someone found my sketchbook and went through it, and then brought me to Thranduil, which I think is the main reason he had me singled out and brought before him. You see, in that sketchbook, I had drawn a picture of our mom as we knew her. But when whoever searched our stuff went through it, they recognized that picture, and that's why they brought it to Thranduil."

Kíli's eyes went wide with sudden realization. "By Durin. You're not saying - your mother was originally from this earth as well? And not only that, but one of Mirkwood's elves?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Close, but it's more than that. Our mother, Laurel Owens, is actually, apparently, Aredhel, Queen of Mirkwood and Thranduil's wife. There's a gate to our old world somewhere in Mirkwood forest, and she disappeared through it one day when she and her party were attacked by an orc raid one day. Our best guess is that she got too close by mistake and got pulled through."

Fíli groaned and rested his head in his hands. "Thorin is _not_ going to take this well."

Kíli let out a low whistle. "Your mother is the Queen of Mirkwood? Yeah, there's no way Thorin will take this well. That's the understatement of the century. The way he is now? I dread to think." He paused. "You said you think she's coming back soon, though. What made you think that? Wait. Scratch that. Going back to Thranduil helping you escape Mirkwood - is that why? Because your mother is apparently his wife?"

Elena nodded, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her snickers. "Pretty much yeah. Actually..." She grinned sheepishly. "He figured out that Celia and I were randir with a few leading questions, and then I admitted as much. So that was part of it, too. He said that the Valar don't take kindly to those who refuse to aid, or hinder, any who come from them."

Kíli nodded immediately. "I can think of a few stories I've heard of the wrath of the Valar brought down upon a foolish few who deliberately opposed the randir while still claiming to be their allies. They're often told as warnings to young children; although aside from you two, randir have not been seen for generations."

"Thranduil would know firsthand, though," Fíli interjected. "After all, there were randir involved both with the War of the Last Alliance, and with Mirkwood in particular. So it makes sense that he would not wish to anger the Valar."

"Actually..." Elena bit her lip, but couldn't help her grin. "It was more that he didn't want to anger Mom. I mean, the Valar were definitely a part of it, but he said he'd face a worse fate from her than the Valar if something happened to me while I was in his realm. She's a bit of a mother bear at times."

Kíli started to snicker. When his brother threw him a confused look, he just continued to laugh before eventually explaining. "I was just thinking... everything I've heard about their mother before, even before now... it sounds almost exactly like Amad." He snorted bitterly. "I bet if she were here, Thorin would be out of the gold sickness in less time than it takes to blink. She's _scary_ when she gets mad."

Fíli nodded solemnly in agreement.

"So then, what's Thorin?" Celia asked slowly in amusement.

"Compared to Amad?" Kíli clarified. "Thorin's anger is like a fire. It burns in a flash, hot and fierce, before burning itself out soon enough. Amad, though, she's more like boiling water. Slow to boil, slow to cool. She can hold a grudge for years if she feels you haven't properly apologized for whatever grievance you've committed."

"Didn't she once dye a visiting nobleman's beard a bright blue because he'd insulted us several years before as children?" Fíli asked thoughtfully. "I think it was at least three years later, definitely long enough for us and him to have forgotten the slight, but she hadn't because he refused to apologize when she first confronted him. So she dyed his beard a bright blue while he was sleeping, and only fixed it when he sincerely apologized."

"I remember that," Kíli said with a grin. "But we should probably return to the subject at hand. Your mother is an elf, and you think she's coming back soon. How soon, and why do you think that?"

"Right," Elena said, shaking herself and focusing her thoughts. "Um... Thranduil said something about the blossoms of the queen blooming for the first time in centuries. My guess is that they stopped when she disappeared. Oh! And that the gate in his forest had opened a short time ago. He said it always does shortly before someone goes through or comes back."

"And my dream!" Celia interrupted, sending an apologetic glance at her sister, who waved it off. She snapped her fingers suddenly in realization. "No, wait. Both of them."

"Both?" Kíli frowned. "What do you mean? Didn't you only dream of your mother the one time?"

"Yes. Well, no," Celia admitted. "Well, technically yes, but in the dream I had this morning, I was talking to you, and you said something about my mother!"

"Me?" Kíli exclaimed in surprise. "What'd I say?"

Celia frowned. "Well, we were talking about a possible way to save Elena. You mentioned my mother, and said that she might be able to help, because of her elvish healing skills. I didn't know what you were talking about - in fact, I thought she was still back in our old world, but you insisted that we'd just seen her the night before. In fact, she was there fighting in the battle, just like in my dream this afternoon."

"That's right," Elena recalled. "I had trouble hearing you guys by that point, but I know Kíli said something about her giving both Thorin and Thranduil a browbeating."

"Hearing?" Fíli shared a troubled look with his brother. "Elena, what exactly happened in this dream?"

"Ask the hard questions, why don't you," she complained with a huff. "I don't know if Celia saw anything different, but from my perspective, we were in the middle of a battle with orcs, or goblins, or whatever. And we were at Ravenhill. I don't know where Celia was, but Kíli, you and I were scouting the area because we'd seen Azog up there, or something. I don't quite remember. Anyways, I think they were coming after us or something, but we ended up splitting up."

She grimaced. "I was caught first. I held my own for all of thirty seconds before one of the orcs took me by surprise and..." She took a deep breath. "He stabbed me in the stomach and I dropped like a rock. Probably would've been killed immediately if Fíli hadn't found me right then and jumped in to defend me."

Next to her, Fíli was slowly growing paler and clenching his hands into fists, striving to remain calm, while Kíli looked between the two with growing worry. "Celia said he died," he said lowly.

Elena nodded somberly. "I wasn't there for it, but... Fíli couldn't hold them off forever. And once Azog showed up..." She shuddered, her own cheeks losing color. "He told them if they found Celia to not kill her, because he wanted her alive, but to let me die because I'd lost enough blood that it was more work than it was worth to try and save me. And... he took Fíli. Surrounded him and then wounded him until they were able to take him down and drag him off. That's the last I saw of him." She looked down at the table, digging her thumbnail into a crack in the wood.

Celia picked up the story where she left off, her voice weak and quiet. "I ended up on Ravenhill with Thorin, Dwalin, Kíli, and Bilbo in time to see Azog kill Fíli, and then promise to take out the rest of the line of Durin. I set off to find Elena, since Fíli had mentioned something about her being hurt before he... died. I found Elena, and then Kíli found me, and then... and then Elena died, and I woke up," she finished weakly, also avoiding eye contact.

Kíli swore under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "By Durin, Celia, is that why you were crying when we found you this morning?"

"It was obvious?" Celia's hands flew to her eyes in mortification.

Kíli snorted without humor. "Just a little."

"The events of your dream this morning appear to match the events of Celia's dream this afternoon," Fíli interjected evenly. "Do you think that makes these events possible predictions of the future? Do they match up to what you know of the battle?"

Celia hesitated, casting a concerned look at her sister. "Some of it, yes. The trap on Ravenhill, Azog being there along with all three Durins, Dwalin, and Bilbo... I mean, Elena and I weren't there in the original timeline, but almost everything else was exactly the same."

"Including my death, I presume?" Fíli asked easily. "And most likely my brother's at some point?"

Celia and Elena froze, eyes locked on the older prince, who looked far too calm, as did his brother.

He smiled crookedly. "Surely you didn't think it would escape my notice that every time the battle or any possible upcoming deaths are mentioned, your eyes flick to me and my brother or Thorin. Or your comment that whoever died in the battle was not supposed to, and their death affected Middle Earth to the point that two randir were sent to stop it. I'm not seeking to belittle others' value here, but the others of the Company do not hold a high enough position that their deaths could likely be considered catastrophic to Middle Earth.

"Since you were sent to us, it's likely that the deaths involved the Company, and not someone else such as Thranduil, perhaps. And of the Company, it was either Gandalf or the heirs to the throne of Erebor who would likely cause such a problem. If Kíli and I died, that would mean that after Thorin's death, the direct line of succession from Durin would be lost. Dáin would be next in line, yes, but he's not in the direct line of succession, which means there could be challengers for the throne, although it's not likely."

"And since you've hinted at something after these events as well, it's likely that Erebor is needed at her strongest for the events to come," Kíli spoke up. "Which means unchallenged leadership in all aspects. Which, given the stubbornness of our people, just isn't going to happen with Dáin at the head, no matter how good of a leader he is."

Celia just blinked at the two brothers. "So, you've known for how long that in one timeline, all three of you die, and you're just completely okay with this?"

"Of course not," Fíli said immediately. "For one thing, you've only just confirmed it just now that it's actually us." He grinned when Celia closed her eyes, cursing herself. "In all seriousness, though, that's why we brought it up now, so that we can learn the circumstances and plan against it, and better defend ourselves should that be the way things happen. Not to mention that Kíli and I both accepted that we might die when we started this quest. We've made our peace - for the most part - with that possibility long ago."

"But... you're not mad that we didn't tell you right away?" Elena asked timidly.

Fíli shrugged. "Didn't we go over this at Beorn's? We know you're going to do your best to stop it, even at the potential cost to your own life - which I am not okay with, by the way. We know that you've been worrying about this for the past two years since you found out this whole place was real. And we weren't close enough that you could trust us enough to tell us this earlier. Certainly not in Bag End, or even Rivendell."

"Perhaps the long and short of it is that we trust you enough that we don't need to ask questions as much as we may want them answered," Kíli interjected.

Fíli nodded in firm agreement. "You've proven yourselves to us. We trust you with our lives."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Quick side note, I am aware that Dáin's a good leader in the books and movies. I'm still having him be a good leader of his people here, it's just not going to work out if he becomes king of Erebor. Because reasons. :D**

 **And this chapter... ugh. It was supposed to be all sweet and sappy, but then I needed to set it up, and 4,500 words later... it's all death and doom and gloom. :P All well. I suppose it's in keeping with Halloween season. :/ Next chapter should, hopefully, finally, be the sweet, sappy mess that I've literally been planning for the last two months.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, PhoenixLordess, DeLacus, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, and Ms. Lady Wolf for reviewing!**

 _ **Child of Dreams: Oh, no doubt. They'll probably commiserate over their stick-in-the-mud brother/husband they have to deal with on a daily basis. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 ** _PhoenixLordess: Haha. Laurel and Thranduil will be coming soon (along with her bow and 1 confrontation with Thorin). Kília will hopefully... finally (it's literally been planned for over 2 months, but keeps getting put off) be making significant progress next chapter... in a sense. ;) The bear is iffy, the bow is guaranteed. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _DeLacus: Yay! I'm so glad you liked it! You left such a nice review. *Happy face* Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal: Yep. Thranduil can be a bit of a drama queen at times. :P Just wait til he and Thorin get together. ;D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Lady Silverstar2: Aww, I'm glad. :D Thranduil's always been a bit difficult for me to write for some reason. Legolas's reaction will have to wait (but will hopefully be good) and the dwarves are back but not quite ready to roll. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Ms. Lady Wolf: Wow, thank you! I'm glad you liked my story! I'm always glad to see new readers are enjoying my work! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	62. Chapter 62 - A Punderful Date With Death

~~ Elena ~~

"Oh, look at me. You're going to make me cry," Celia sniffed exaggeratedly, fanning her face. "Such blind trust."

"Except it's not blind trust," Kíli pointed out easily. "Ever since we met you, you've always done your best to look out for us. You've fought and bled with us. Not to mention that you two have become our best friends. We trust in you because you've never let us down before, even when you had no obligation to do so."

"Great. Now I really am going to cry," Celia complained, her eyes starting to glisten before she tried to hide them from the group by focusing on a groove in the table. "Stupid dwarves. Being all trusting and noble and likable."

"Well, _someone_ had to make up for Thorin," Kíli muttered, dark eyes dancing with mischief.

Fíli snorted, immediately covering his mouth with his hand. "Kíli!" he hissed, trying to act righteously indignant on his uncle's behalf.

His younger brother shrugged, undaunted. "What? We all know it's true."

"Anyways," Elena interrupted loudly. "Touching displays of trust aside, you should probably know how we think the battle might go so that you know what to look out for." Her tone was light, but she knew Celia saw the way she ducked her head when Fíli glanced her way, hiding her blush. She had been just as affected by the brothers' display of trust as her sister was.

"Yes, please tell us," Kíli nodded eagerly, leaning forward in his chair as he looked at her with a grin that promised trouble. "We're _dying_ to know."

Celia's face lost all expression as she turned to look at the Durin prince, who merely grinned back at her unrepentantly. "No. Bad Kíli." Whacking him gently across the back of the head, she turned back to her sister and declared, "I say we let him figure it out on his own. He deserves it after that."

"Harsh," the brunet complained. "You're _killing_ me here."

"Fíli?" Elena asked after a minute, her face deliberately straight.

"Yes, Elena?" the older Durin responded, clearly struggling to hide a smile.

"How serious will the repercussions be if I just stab Kíli here and now? I mean, you'll still be able to take the throne after Thorin, so the line of succession won't be in danger at all."

Fíli pretended to think the matter over seriously, rubbing his beard thoughtfully before frowning. "I'm afraid... the consequences would be _grave_. Best not."

"That's it." Elena threw her hands up in the air. "I'm done. I'm done. I can't do this anymore. You two are on your own. Good luck."

"You can't do that!" Kíli objected, clearly delighting in their reactions. "You leave us on our own, we'll be in over our heads!"

Celia buried her face in her hands, enjoying the unexpected humor as much as them, but playing up her exasperation to continue the joke. "Why are you doing this?"

"Yes, Kíli, why are you tormenting them so?" Fíli questioned his brother. "They're clearly _burned_ out after dealing with Smaug."

Then again, there was such a thing as too soon.

Celia let her forehead thud against the table. "Stoooooop," she whined.

"Sorry," was Kíli's unrepentant reply. "Can't. We're on fire here."

"That pun was dead on," Fíli complimented Kíli.

"Thanks!" Kíli grinned, snickering when Elena and Celia groaned again. "Oh, come on. Who died and made you two critics? Oh, wait."

"Not. Funny." Elena ground out, refusing to look at either of them.

"Sorry, was that _tomb_ much?" Kíli asked her apologetically.

"I'd just like you to know that I hate you both now," Celia informed them dryly, not lifting her head from her hands.

"And here I thought you liked us," Kíli complained, crossing his arms in mock offense and leaning back against his chair. "I don't know why you don't. We're very down to earth."

"Celia?" Elena's tone was plaintive. "Please tell me you brought your bow with you."

"Don't you think I'd have used it by now if I did?"

"Wow. Way to get to the point. A straight shot to the heart of the issue," Fíli praised them, showing no offense.

"That's an excellent deadpan expression by the way," Kíli complimented his brother.

"Why, thank you, brother mine. I've been practicing it my whole life. The goal is to maintain it after as well."

"I see." Kíli nodded solemnly, took one look at the twins - who had given up by this point and accepted their fate - and collapsed onto the table, burying his laughter into his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm done now, I promise," he managed through choking gasps of laughter.

"No. You guys are both horrible people, and we were wrong to ever think otherwise," Celia grumbled. "You're on your own. Good luck on your own, you're going to need it."

Elena watched with crossed arms as Kíli gently poked her sister's arm until she lifted her head to glare at the dark-haired prince, who was looking at her pleadingly. She apparently steeled her heart against him - with great struggle - and shook her head with resolve before burying her head in her hands once more.

"No. No. You _deserve_ whatever happens for this. We were trying to be _nice_ to you, and this is how you repay us? No. Nope. Not happening."

"Oh, come on, Celia," Kíli coaxed, scooting his chair closer to hers and draping his arm over her shoulders as he tried to get her to look at him once more. "We were just having a bit of fun. I'm done now, I promise."

Her face burning at his closeness, she shook her head again, her resolve to not give in weakening with every moment that passed. "Fíli hasn't promised. How do I know I can trust you?"

"Very well, I give my word as well," Fíli promised, laughter very clear in his voice. "We've had our fun, but we really should get back to the matter at hand. I don't know how long it will be before we'll get called back for supper, and I don't believe we can avoid that, nor should we, lest we offend Bombur and risk..." he grimaced, "unpleasant consequences."

"Fine. _Fine_." Elena gave in. "But only because I would be mildly put out if you died and I had no one else to make fun of full time."

Fíli clasped his hand over his heart. "Such words of tender endearment warm my heart," he cried. "Now I cannot die, knowing that such a woman holds me so dear to her heart."

Celia was unable to stop the snort, only snickering further when her sister shot her a betrayed look. "All right, fine." She let out one last snicker then drew a deep breath, steadying herself and sobering at the same time. Kíli withdrew his arm, but left his chair where it was next to her own, and she did her best to ignore it - and her sister's knowing look. "Where should we start?"

Dismissing the previous conversation with a shake of her head, Elena sat up straight in her chair, leaning forward and folding her hands on the table as the general air sobered. "That depends on what timeline we're going with. Are we going movie-verse or book? Or some weird mesh of the two?"

Celia wrinkled her nose, resting her chin in her hands. "I don't know. Some events have been movie, some have been book, and some have been amixture of both. It could literally be any of those, or something completely new. For all we know, there might not be a battle at all."

Her sister shook her head. "That's not likely, though. We both know why we're here. I say we tell them both versions of events, and then try to prepare for either as much as possible."

Celia nodded. "Right. Let's go with book version first. It's shorter and to the point." She took a deep breath then turned to the Durin brothers. "You sure you're ready to hear this?" she asked.

The brothers looked at each other, then back at her, both nodding in confirmation, serious looks on their faces.

She rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to gather her thoughts. "Okay, then. Um, let's see. So, you know about Bilbo taking the Arkenstone, right? We went over that this morning. He takes it, gives it to Bard and Thranduil so they can exchange it for their fair share of the gold or whatever, and then gets found out. Thorin, still in the height of gold sickness, banishes him, and he ends up in Bard's camp. Then, I don't know, a day or two later or whatever, Dáin shows up, he, Thranduil and Bard almost declare war on each other before Gandalf shows up and tells them that they're all idiots and that there's an army of orcs and goblins marching on them. This somehow gets them to unite, they form an hasty alliance and take on the army."

"You mentioned Dáin and his army," Kíli interrupts slowly. "Where are we? Are we still in Erebor?"

"Yes," Celia drew out the word awkwardly, seeing the disgust on both the brothers' faces. "But not for long," she added hastily. "The alliance does well at first, but the numbers of the orcs are overwhelming, and things go south quickly. You guys break down the wall and come charging out, and things devolve into a bloody mess."

She frowned. "Not much is known about the battle after that, except that at some point the Giant Eagles show up, as does Beorn, and they help turn the fight. What's later known as the Battle of Five Armies is won, though it's revealed that Thorin dies after the battle from his wounds, and you two..." she looked down. "You two died defending him in battle."

"Did... did Thorin ever recover from the gold sickness?" Kíli asked at last in the silence that fell after she stopped speaking.

Celia glanced up at him in surprise. "What? Oh. Um, yeah. He snapped out of it before you guys left Erebor, I think. He was able to apologize to Bilbo for what he said and did before he died."

Fíli nodded, not showing any of his thoughts on his face. "What about the other version of events? The... movee-verse?" he asked uncertainly.

Elena chuckled briefly. "Movie-verse, yes. That's... a bit more complicated. The lead up is basically the same, Dáin comes, everyone almost declares war, then the orcs come and everyone fights them. The difference is that there, Azog was still alive - oh, yeah! He was originally supposed to be dead, and Bolg was the main contender. Anyways, Thorin overcomes the gold sickness, you guys join the fight, and then Thorin spots Azog on Ravenhill, and decides to try and kill him there. I think. It's been a while."

She ran a hand through her hair. "Anyways, he takes you two and Dwalin up to try and take him. Bilbo finds out at some point that it's a trap and goes after you all, but arrives too late. Fíli and Kíli have already split up to search the area, and Fíli gets caught by Azog." She glanced over at the blond prince, drawing a shaky breath. "Azog drags you before Thorin and Dwalin, announces his plan to wipe out the line of Durin, and... kills you. In front of them."

Her gaze fell to the table. "Kíli saw the whole thing from his hiding spot and ran off to get revenge, but stopped when he saw Tauriel losing a fight against Bolg."

"Wait. Tauriel?" Kíli interrupted, holding up a hand. "Who's Tauriel? And why would I stop?"

Elena avoided his gaze. "She's the red-haired elleth who helped guard us when we were in Mirkwood. In that version of events, you... became friends with her to the point... that... you maybe, sort of, objected to the thought of her being in danger, and stopped to help her, and she defied her king to help you - long story, don't ask."

Kíli blinked, pink lightly dusting his cheeks. "I'm trying really hard not to read between the lines here, please just continue with the story."

"Right." Elena cleared her throat. "Anyways. Kíli stopped to help Tauriel, but, still blinded by rage and grief, if I recall correctly, he was caught off guard and killed by Bolg. Tauriel tried to kill him in revenge but failed, though I think Legolas eventually killed him. Moving on, Thorin met Azog alone, though I don't remember how, sorry. They fought before they managed to mortally wound each other, Thorin cutting off his head before collapsing. Bilbo found him there, and they made peace between them, and then... Thorin died." She sighed. "All three of you were buried in the mountain, and the Arkenstone with you."

"That's how Fíli died in your dream this morning," Kíli realized. "Do you think... do you think that's supposed to be a warning of which way events are going to turn out?"

Celia shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Maybe? But we also dreamed that we'd been taken captive by Azog, so... who knows. I mean, if Elena is killed in the battle like we dreamed, then she could hardly be taken captive by Azog."

"Unless you're taken captive before the battle," Fíli pointed out seriously. "You mentioned nothing in your dreams about knowing how you got there, just that you ended up on Ravenhill, and that Elena ended up in the middle of the battle with me and Kíli. For all you know, that's how you got there - Azog brought you."

Elena sat up straight, not having considered that possibility. "But... how would he have captured us? We're here in Erebor with you. If we don't leave until you do, and there's no way he can get in, at least not before the battle, then how did he catch us?"

"Unless we weren't in Erebor," Celia said slowly.

Elena turned to her twin, frowning in confusion. "Well... yeah, that's what we basically just said. But again, why would we not be here?"

"Well... there is the whole Arkenstone issue," Celia pointed out almost sheepishly. "If we do get Bilbo to steal it, and then Thorin finds out that we were involved while he's still in the midst of the gold sickness, it's very likely that we get banished as well. Which means we're no longer in the mountain, and thus potentially vulnerable to Azog. Or at least, much more accessible than we were in the mountain."

"But we'd be in the middle of Thranduil and Bard's armies," Elena objected. "How would Azog get us out of there without anyone noticing?"

"I don't know," Celia complained, throwing her hands up in the air. "Next time I think like a homicidal orc I'll let you know."

"Okay, so following that trail of thought is fruitless for the time being," Fíli decided. "Until we know for certain that Bilbo is able to steal the Arkenstone and deliver it, I say we should consider some other concerns at the moment. Such as, what else have you dreamed this week?"

Elena glanced at her sister. "Um... I don't remember much of three nights ago. I think it was about the battle in general. Still a nightmare, you know. Bloody bodies and orcs everywhere. That wasn't even the worst part, though. That title would go to the overwhelming feeling of fear and loneliness that I felt the whole time. Whatever I was doing there, I was completely alone, and surrounding by creatures that wanted nothing more to kill me."

Celia nodded immediately. "That's exactly the dream I had, only, you know, I was me, and not you. I woke up right as someone was about to attack me."

"Yeaaaah, about that..." Elena cast a sheepish glance at Fíli, who only shook his head, fighting a small smile despite the conversation. "I may have woken up swinging at the person who woke me up."

Kíli narrowed his eyes. "Elena Owens, did you punch my brother?"

"Not... deliberately..." Elena said slowly, avoiding his gaze. "I... may have awoken believing I was being attacked by an orc, and reacted accordingly."

Kili opened his mouth to speak, paused, held up a finger, stopped, and sighed, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "You punched him in the face, didn't you?"

"In the jaw," Fíli admitted with a grin. "I think she was aiming for my nose, but I dodged. Just not enough."

Celia bit back a snicker. "Wow, Elena. At least I never punched Kíli in the face when he woke me up."

"No, but there was the time that you -"

"And we decided that it was best to never speak of that again," Celia announced firmly. "Right?" She sent her best puppy dog look to Kíli, and Elena raised her eyebrows when the dark-haired prince immediately gave in before casting a glance outside at the rapidly darkening sky.

"It's almost time for supper," Kíli informed the group. "Best to head back now, if we don't want to deal with any awkward questions. If anyone does ask, though, we were out exploring."

Everyone reluctantly got to their feet as Kíli grabbed the torch and led the way to the doors. Once Celia had passed, however, Fíli touched Elena's uninjured arm to hold her back and motioned for her to stay a moment, holding a torch in his other hand.

"What is it, Fíli?" she asked curiously. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head immediately. "Can I ask you to promise me something?" he asked seriously, looking into her eyes.

She fought not to react to his gaze while he was looking at her. "As long as it's within my power," she responded uncertainly.

He nodded easily. "It should be."

She looked at him expectantly. Fíli took her hand in his, looking her straight in the eyes. She stared back at him with wide eyes. What was he doing?

"Just promise me one thing," Fíli told her seriously. "If I die..."

"That's not going to happen," Elena interrupted. "That was literally the whole point of the conversation in this 'secret room.'"

"It's important though," he insisted.

She eyed him suspiciously - there was something off about the gleam in his eye that made her suspicious - but believed him. "All right, then. What is it?"

"If I die," he started, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Bury me at night. I'm not a mourning person."

Elena stared at him for a long moment, noticing the way his shoulders were starting to shake before snatching her hand from his. "You're dead to me."

* * *

 **A/N: The first thousand words of this chapter are literally almost completely comprised of puns. I don't know whether to be proud or appalled. :/**

 **So, I know I've been saying this for forever, but next chapter should finally be the bit that I've been planning for so long. The lead-up to it is finally complete with this chapter, and it will most likely be an extremely fluffy chapter - and will likely be one of the last fluffy chapters before the events of BOFA really start taking place, and then it's angst/trouble galore (except for the long-awaited confrontation between Laurel, Thranduil, and Thorin, which should happen in just a few chapters).**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, Outofthisworldgal, PhoenixLordess, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing!**

 _ **Child of Dreams: Yay! I'm glad you did! More fluff next chapter. Like, tooth-rottingly sweet to the point you'll need a toothbrush. I'm glad you liked it, and hopefully you liked this chapter as well! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Did someone**_ **_say love confession? *glances at next chapter* Well, you're either about to be very happy, or very frustrated... possibly both. :D And yep. The Durins and the twins are now (almost) finally ready to take on Thorin, Azog, and basically everybody else - together. And yep. Thorin's listening abilities are very low right now, and may get worse before the end. D: Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D_**

 ** _PhoenixLordess: Hahaha, I promise it's coming. Like, get hit by a freight train coming. Ugh,_ _if it all goes according to plan, it's going to be sickeningly sweet. (Can you say dancing under the stars? ;)) Little bit of both Kíli and Fílena in this chapter, hopefully that's enough to tide you over until next chapter. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Lady Silverstar2: Yep. Celia struggles with dropping a bit more than she should at times. I'm so happy that you liked last chapter, and that it made your day at least a little bit better! And I'm really glad that you like it enough to keep coming back. It makes me so happy to hear that you like my story so much! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D_**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	63. Chapter 63 - A Starlight Dance

~~ Celia ~~

Supper turned out to be just as uncomfortable as every other meal of the week had been. While Bombur had done a phenomenal job on the soup, it was still rather awkward to eat when half your dinner companions were not fully sane. As it was, the four of them ate hastily before escaping to the guardroom once more.

"So," Kíli said loudly once they were all settled. "Not that today hasn't been completely perfect and wonderful and amazing, but what do you want to do now? Because I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like staring at the ceiling for the next few hours until we go to bed."

"Oh, darn," Elena began to pout immediately. "And here I was, hoping for a nice, relaxing evening staring up at the ceiling." She began to dig in her bag, pulling out her sketchbook and pencil. "You're so cruel, Kíli, to dash my hopes and dreams like that."

"Life is full of shattered hopes," Kíli intoned wisely. "And there is little we can do other than pick up the pieces and move on."

"Thanks, Gandalf," Elena remarked dryly. "Any other tidbits of wisdom you want to pass on?"

"Don't lick a frozen pole in winter?"

"Wow. So wisdom. Much smart."

"Do you think she's making fun of me, Fíli? I feel like she's making fun of me."

"She's definitely making fun of you," Fíli confirmed easily.

"Really feeling the love tonight, Elena," Kíli huffed, flopping onto his mat and crossing his arms. "And here I thought we were friends."

"See, we were, and then this little thing happened earlier where people I _thought_ I could trust betrayed me in the most horrible of ways. There's no going back from that, I'm afraid," Elena said sorrowfully.

Celia nodded, taking a seat beside her sister and watching over her shoulder. "Too true. I don't know if we can look past that. It was just... so horrible." She clasped a hand to her forehead dramatically and pretended to swoon.

"Actually, Fíli was worse," Elena informed her sister.

"What? Why was I worse than him?" Fíli protested indignantly, sitting up straight and gesturing to his brother. "He started it!"

"Yeah, but you're the oldest, so you should know better," she reminded him, flipping back to her earlier drawing and concentrating on his face again. "Also, your face is giving me difficulties, so it's easier to blame you for everything else, too."

He sputtered. "How am I to blame for you being unable to draw my face to your specifications?"

Elena shrugged. "I don't know. It's just a fact of life. The grass is green, the sky is blue, it's all Fíli's fault... you can't question the way of things, Fíli. Some things are what they are."

"Que sera, sera," Celia quoted sagely. "Whatever will be, will be."

Fíli sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'd ask what I did to deserve this, but I think I know."

"It's not like we made it obvious or anything," Celia hummed, resting her head on her sister's shoulder. "Hey, this isn't gonna bother your drawing or anything, is it?"

Her twin shook her head. "Nah. Fíli's just going to have to accept a misshapen face at this point. I don't think there's anything I can do to save it."

"That's okay," Kíli assured her, sending a teasing look at his brother, who shot him a warning look in return.

"I'd watch what you say next carefully, _nadadith_ ," Fíli warned him, his stance shifting slightly, as if preparing for an attack. "I'm still stronger than you."

Kíli just snickered, not so subtly sliding away from him before continuing his previous line of thought. "Like I was saying, Elena. It's all right. Fíli's used to living with a misshapen head. He has his whole life, after all."

He let out an unrestrained laugh as his brother sprung at him with a growl, rolling to lower the momentum of the attack as he was tackled to the ground, the girls chuckling and pulling their legs out of the potential line of attack.

"I'm not the one who had a visible dent in my cranium after running into a bookcase," Fíli growled, flipping a thrashing Kíli over onto his back. "Stay still so I can put you into a headlock already!"

Kíli grunted, wrapping his foot around his brother's leg and forcing it down to the ground. "But then I'll end up looking like you!" he teased, wriggling out from underneath his brother and doing his best to restrain his arms.

"All the more reason to do so, then," Fíli retorted breathlessly, rolling all over the floor with his brother in an attempt to vanquish him, their struggles only eliciting more laughter from the girls. Finally, he managed to pin his brother onto his stomach, forcing his arms behind his back. "I told you I was stronger!" he taunted. "Ready to admit it now?"

"Admit what? That you're stronger? Stronger smelling, maybe," Kíli returned, pausing to gather himself before suddenly arching his back into the air and twisting his torso to the side, dislodging Fíli and startling him enough that he let go of his hands. Letting out a triumphant laugh, he pulled himself into a crouch and lunged at his brother. Neither of them were able to fight at full power, both of them laughing too hard to put that much effort into it.

Celia snickered, watching them wrestle like two little boys instead of trained warriors who could take down an opponent in the blink of an eye on the battlefield. "Behold, the future leaders of Erebor," she whispered to her sister with a grin.

"Hopefully not for a good long while yet," her sister whispered back, smothering her own laughter as Fíli attempted to shove Kíli's face into the floor and instead smacked his own head on the wall, leaving him clutching his forehead and muttering curses while Kíli almost died of laughter.

Celia smiled at the sight, relaxing further onto her sister. "It's been too long since he laughed like that," she murmured.

"Hmm?" her sister asked, glancing down at her.

Celia nodded at the two laughing princes. "Kíli. Fíli too, now that I think about it. It's been too long since either of them laughed like that. Just... really, truly letting everything go and having fun without being worried and stressed about other events. It's nice. They needed it."

Elena eyed her sister. "I think they're not the only ones who need it."

Celia lifted her head and raised her eyebrow at her twin. "Are you... offering to wrestle me? Because, and I hate to break it to you, I can beat you on a good day, and you can't do squat with your arm the way it is now."

"Rude." Elena sniffed indignantly. "I am more than capable of taking you on a good day, and you should count yourself lucky that I'm not able to do so today."

"Uh-huh. Sure." Celia's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Keep telling yourself that. We both know that the last time you tried to take me down, you ended up tripping face-first into a mud puddle."

"Because you pushed me!"

Celia waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Details, shmetails. I still beat you."

"I'm going to ignore that only because I suddenly realized I haven't finished drawing you yet, and I would hate for you to end up like Kíli," Elena announced threateningly, bending over her sketchbook and adding some of the finer details she had skipped earlier.

"Uh-huh," Celia said disbelievingly. "Don't worry, Elena. I'll let you bow out of this one without too much of a blow to your pride. We'll pretend it was because of your arm," she told her twin condescendingly.

Elena scoffed, but didn't retort in words, instead lightly scribbling a pirate goatee onto her drawing of Celia's face and staring at her sister challengingly, daring her to say something.

"Elena!" Celia sputtered, whacking her sister on the arm.

"Ow," her sister protested, laughing too hard for the word to actually mean anything. "Use your words, Celia, remember what Mom taught us?"

"She taught us that words can only go so far, and sometimes you need to defend yourself with your actions as well," Celia responded immediately.

"I don't think this is the type of situation she was referring to when she said that," her older sister sulked, but rubbed the goatee off anyways, her lips still twitching.

Celia pretended to grumble for a bit longer, but eventually gave in and curled back up against her sister, quietly watching her finish her sketch. Eventually, she did manage to get Fíli's face right, although she didn't say anything about it when Fíli asked how her sketching was going from his current position holding Kíli in a headlock - which didn't last long. The wrestling match was eventually declared to end in a tie, although each brother separately insisted that _they_ were clearly the winner, and how could it have ended any other way?

Things settled down after that, and Celia ended up pulling out her own mini journal that she'd been keeping while Elena and Fíli had been in Erebor. Fíli and Kíli had occupied themselves with sharpening their daggers, although Celia had noticed that Kíli kept glancing at the outside light coming in, as if he were waiting for something. He was almost acting nervous about it, although Fíli seemed to be completely relaxed, an amused smile playing about his lips whenever he caught his brother glancing at the light.

At last, Kíli seemed to decide that the time was right, and stood up, sheathing his dagger before making his way over to Celia. She closed her journal as he stopped in front of her and smiled up at him, wondering why he seemed so... shifty. Almost as if he was planning something.

"Will you come for a walk with me?" he asked her, head tilted to the side and hand stretched out to help her up if she accepted it. "I found this room. I think you'll like it." He hesitated. "I don't really want to say more than that, or I'll give it away. What do you say? Will you come?"

She didn't need her sister's elbow in the side to encourage her to accept. As if she would ever turn him down. She accepted his hand and stood up easily, 'accidentally' knocking her boot against her sister's leg and jostling her in retaliation.

"Of course I'll come," she agreed easily.

A bright smile spread across Kíli's face, although it was easy to see he was still nervous. Elena started humming the tune of 'Here Comes the Bride,' under her breath, and Celia kicked her again, still smiling at Kíli.

"Great. Good. That's good. Um..." Kíli stuttered to a stop, and she raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was suddenly acting so flustered.

Fíli cleared his throat suddenly, making his younger brother jump and turn bright red before turning to glare at him. Fíli just smiled, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Have fun on your walk," he said simply before turning back to sharpening his knife.

"Right." Kíli suddenly took her hand and pulled her out the door and into one of the tunnels, grabbing a torch on his way out. "Don't wait up for us," he called over his shoulder, settling into an easy walk once they were out of sight of the guardroom.

"So, where are we going, Kíli? Can you at least say in what region, or whatever?" Celia asked, stepping up to walk beside him. He let their hands fall down between them, loosening his grip enough that she could easily pull her hand free if she wanted to. He didn't completely let go, though, and so she didn't think he would object when she instead curled her fingers ever so slightly around his in return.

He didn't, if the shy smile he shot her meant anything. "Region? What's that supposed to mean?" he teased.

She huffed. "Well, sorry that I don't know every area of Erebor. I don't know how deep this place goes! For all I know, you have a whole section that's just gardens, another for marketplace, another for the infirmary, and so on."

"Well, you're not entirely wrong," Kíli informed her, leading her out into a large, open hallway and she looked around curiously. She hadn't been in this area before, and she realized that the faded footprints in the dust must belong to Kíli when he'd come along this way before. "Erebor goes deep into the mountain, and we do have places that are reserved for certain professions, such as the medical wing, and the guard area, and so forth," he explained.

"So, back to my earlier question... can you tell me which area we might be going to?" she pressed again, returning to her original line of thought.

He just chuckled in response. The whole area seemed to be nicer than the guardroom area, more elegant. The floor was covered in colored - if somewhat faded - tiles that formed patterns and pictures, and more carvings and tapestries decorated the walls.

Kíli seemed confident in where he was going as he led them through several twists and turns - and a slight detour around a pile of rubble - before stopping in front of two large ornate doors. His nerves seemed to come back as he placed a hand on one of the golden handles and pulled the door open, bowing slightly and gesturing for Celia to walk through, releasing her hand as he did so.

Celia fought the urge to smile at that, lest it be taken as making fun of him, and walked into the room. Her mouth immediately fell open.

It was a large ballroom, decorated with elaborate pillars and carvings. Paintings on the walls depicted what were likely famous scenes from dwarf history, and there was a low stage along one end, presumably for musicians to stand on and play. But that wasn't the best part at all.

The far wall was made completely out of glass. Stained windows decorated the top side, and clear doors opened onto a long balcony that overlooked the mountainside. And even though the sun had gone down, she could still see clearly, for there were no clouds in the sky, and the moon and stars shone brightly. Better yet, the way they shone through the windows reflected off of what she now realized were thin lines in the walls that glowed a pale blue and lit up the room.

"This is called the Starlight Room," Kíli said quietly, stepping up beside her and startling her. He smiled apologetically when she shot him an indignant look. "There's a mineral in the walls that reflects light, and it's been engineered in such a way that only minimal outside lighting is needed." He gestured at the lone torch he'd brought in a sconce by the door they'd come through.

"Obviously, this room was mainly used at night for balls. It's not the main ballroom, as we have several that are bigger, but none of them quite match the magnificence of this one, to hear my mother tell it," he continued.

Celia nodded, eyes wide as she continued to look around the room. "I can see why she likes this one. It's so pretty. Imagine what the balls must have been like, everyone dancing in the starlight."

Something in Kíli's eyes sparked at the comment, and he took a deep breath before moving to stand in front of her. Her stomach seemed to suddenly flood with butterflies when he bowed before offering his left hand to her in the classic invitation to dance.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked quietly, his dark eyes focused on hers and making her feel as if she were the only thing that mattered to him right now.

She gulped, feeling her heart skip a beat before suddenly doubling in speed as she placed her right hand in his. "How could I refuse such an offer as this?" she teased, peering up at him through her eyelashes. "Particularly when we have such lovely music."

He just laughed, making the butterflies in her stomach explode once more as he tugged her out to the center of the ballroom before lifting her right hand up in the air with his left, and sliding his right hand onto her her shoulder blade. Keeping it simple at first - most likely for her sake - he pulled her into an easy four-step waltz and stepped into a slow spin around the room.

"I was able to get the room and the lighting, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to get the musicians from the Blue Mountains in time," he pretended to apologize after a few minutes.

She clicked her tongue in mock annoyance, glancing down at her feet to make sure she had her footing correct. "I suppose I can forgive it just this once," she started to tease him before looking up at him - really looking at him - for the first time since they'd started dancing.

He was smiling affectionately down at her, and she almost stopped where she was as her brain misfired at the sheer warmth and affection in his gaze.

Then it restarted again, and she realized that she'd been staring open-mouthed at Kíli for who knows how long, and hastily shut it, hurrying to match her feet to his and almost tripping over herself in her haste as she tried to her best to look anywhere but him, her cheeks flushing with color.

"There's no need to rush, Celia," Kíli said lightly. "If you hate dancing with me that much, you can just say so. You don't have to speed up the song in an effort to get out of it. I'll let you go."

His words were light and teasing, but his hand shook ever so slightly in hers, and she realized with some shock that he meant what he was saying. If she really didn't want to be with him, he would let her go.

But that implied a far heavier consequence than she was willing to even consider.

So she tightened her hand in his and made the effort to look him in the eye, no matter how much her cheeks burned. "But what if I don't want to leave you?" she countered softly. "What if I don't want you to let me go?"

Neither of them were dancing now, just standing there in the middle of the ballroom with their faces only inches apart as he stared down at her, his gaze intense. When he finally spoke, his voice had dropped to a lower pitch as he promised her, "Then I won't let you go."

* * *

 **A/N:** **So, I know that I'm supposed to go back to Elena POV next chapter.** _ **However**_ **, if enough of you guys were interested, then I suppose that I could probably write what happens next after this from Celia's POV. But only if you really want me to. I mean, I know that not much happened this chapter. It's really just filler, so no big deal if we just move on, right?**

 **Also, I'm curious to know what your mind went to when you saw the title. No real reason why, just wondering...**

 **I'd also like to say thanks for your understanding about this chapter coming late! I had a bad headache that lasted all day yesterday, and refused to go away no matter what I did. :P**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Tibblets, Outofthisworldgal, Child of Dreams, Azure Ryukiba, Lady Silverstar2, and PhoenixLordess for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Tibblets: Haha, I'm glad you liked them. I had fun writing them. ;)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Fíli just couldn't resist the chance for one last pun. And I'm glad you thought that chapter was pun-derful. ;)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: You didn't leave much of a review, so I can only assume that you're upset that there weren't more puns. If that's the case, then don't worry. I'll be sure to write some more soon, just for you! :D**_

 _ **Azure Ryukiba: Hahaha, I'm glad you liked it, lol.**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Aww, I'm glad you liked it! The puns seemed to have gotten a pretty good response (I have found my people!) so they may make a reappearance soon. ;D New chapter now (finally) up!**_

 ** _PhoenixLordess: No worries! I was late updating, so you're good, lol. I'm glad you liked the puns. New chapter now here. I think you might like it, just a little bit... ;)_**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	64. Chapter 64 - A Midnight Conspiracy

~~ Celia ~~

Celia felt her cheeks burn at his promise, but couldn't bring herself to let go of him after what seemed like a turning point in their relationship. She just stared up at him, mouth open slightly, unable to drop her gaze from his.

Then she realized that she'd been staring at him, mouth open, for several minutes, and let out a squeak before burying her burning face in his chest, shrinking in on herself in awkward embarrassment when he started laughing, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly anyways. The mood was lost, at least temporarily, and she couldn't help but be grateful for the break for the sudden surge of strong emotions running through her.

"What happened to the girl who marched up to my brother and demanded he take his shirt off without so much as a blush?" he asked in amusement. "And all I do is look at you, and you try to hide!"

Celia huffed, her arms sliding down from their dance position to wrap loosely around his back. "That's because your brother was being an idiot with bruised ribs that needed to be wrapped. I was more focused on him not taking care of himself the way he should have been than his shirtless state."

"That doesn't explain why you hid from me, though," Kíli teased. "Am I that hideous to look at?"

Despite the teasing nature of the question, she couldn't bring herself to respond the same way. Not with the way they had both bared their hearts a moment ago. And might be doing again soon, if she was reading the situation correctly, her heartbeat suddenly picking up speed at the thought.

"No," she answered honestly. "I'm just... I'm not good with eye contact, okay?" she weakly defended herself at last.

"You know, I might believe that if I hadn't - again - seen you stare down my brother when he tried to protest you telling him to take off his shirt. You had a glare that almost rivaled Óin's. Which I commend, by the way. It's very healer-ly of you," he complimented her.

"You know, I just came out here because you asked me to, and I'm feeling so attacked right now," she complained, feeling his chest rumble with laughter.

"All right, I apologize," he told her, voice still hiding laughter. "You were very kind to come when I asked you to with no information on where we were going, and I appreciate it."

"Well, it is very pretty in here," Celia admitted reluctantly, slowly lifting her head and avoiding his amused gaze to scan the room once more. "But... why did you bring me here?" she asked suddenly, turning to face him despite their previous conversation. "Did you just want to show it to me because you thought I would like it, or because you wanted to make up for those awful puns earlier?"

Kíli clicked his tongue. "Those were wonderful puns, thank you very much. And I already apologized for them because you're a recluse who doesn't understand true genius."

"Let's agree to disagree," Celia told him, hiding a smile of her own.

"Rude. But no, that's not why I brought you here," Kíli informed her. "A large part of it, however, is because I just wanted to show this room to you. You mentioned once in Rivendell how you liked to look at the stars back in your old world, and occasionally in the Shire as well, correct?"

"That's right," she said in surprise. "But that was months ago. I'm surprised you even remember me saying that. _I_ didn't even remember saying that until you reminded me just now."

Kíli shrugged. "Just caught my ear, I guess," he said dismissively. "But when I found this room, I knew immediately that I wanted to show it to you. And not just because of the way the stars light up the room. If you go outside..." He paused. "Well. I think it'd be better if I showed you. If the lady permits?" he asked, stepping back from her slightly and offering her his arm.

"Why not?" she agreed with a soft smile, wrapping her arm around his and letting him lead her across the ballroom floor to the glass doors by the balcony. Pushing the door open took some effort, and he released her arm to let her through, the door falling shut behind them once he stepped away.

Once they were fully outside the mountain, the wind hit them, and she bit back a shiver at the sudden chill. Suddenly feeling grateful for the way the mountain naturally retained heat, she wrapped her arms around herself and stepped to the edge of the balcony.

It was easily several yards wide, and at least twenty yards long, wrapping further around the curve of the mountain, which had been filed smooth and decorated with carvings. The floor was covered in decorative tiles, and carved columns of stone held up the ledge of the railing. There were more torch sconces set along the wall, though most looked broken and rusted with age.

But she hardly noticed that, looking up at the stars for one of the first times since she had arrived at Erebor instead of down at the ground. Like she had noticed earlier, the sky was clear and bright, and myriads of twinkling stars lit up the night.

"It's so beautiful," she breathed in awe, twisting about to see more.

"Yeah," Kíli smiled, coming to stand next to her. "I don't know that I've seen a prettier sight."

Letting out a laugh as her eyes darted about, trying to take in all the stars, she shook her head, blinking back tears for some strange reason. "Yeah. It's... beautiful. It's... I don't know. I guess, in Erebor, I just... I think I forgot to look up, you know? I was so focused on what was happening, and worried about what was _going_ to happen that I didn't even think to look up. I forgot about all this natural beauty outside. And it's so... pure, I guess. Untainted by the darkness of this world. I forgot that no matter what happens, there will always be a light to guide us." She turned to Kíli with an awed smile. "You know what I mean?"

He draped an arm around her shoulder and tucked her into him, a bright smile lighting up his face. "And that's why I like you," he said quietly, staring up at the sky. "You're in the middle of Erebor, with the treasure trove of Thror at your fingertips, with gold and jewels beyond measure. Most dwarves would count themselves blessed and be content with that. But you..."

He turned to look at her, his affectionate gaze heating her up more than his close presence ever could. "You look at the stars. You find more value and beauty in the stars than in any jewel we could ever hope to find in the treasure hoard." He chuckled suddenly. "Your parents were more accurate than they thought."

"What do you mean?" Celia asked, tilting her head to look at him.

"Do you know what your name means?" he asked her instead.

She frowned. "My name? Like, my birth name, or my nickname? Because I have no idea for the former. Or the latter, come to think of it. Why do you ask?"

Kíli's lips parted in a wide grin. "Your birth name, Celestiel, actually translates to 'Maiden of Starlight'," he informed her. "And Celia translates to 'heavenly'. I wonder if your parents knew that you would be a lover of starlight more than earthly jewels when they named you."

"Wait. Seriously?" Celia asked incredulously. "My name means 'Maiden of Starlight'? Come off it. Pull the other one."

"I'm being completely serious right now," Kíli laughed. "It's not a very common name, I'll grant. It's a bit too elvish-sounding for most dwarrows' taste. I think it's left over from way back when we used to get along better with the elves. And I don't just mean before Smaug attacked. The relationship was fraying long before Thror started to go mad. Anyways, yes. That is the accurate translation, and it's most likely a variant of the elvish version of the name."

Celia frowned. "But I wasn't born until after Erebor fell, and the relationship was basically kaput by that point. Why would they give me an elvish-sounding name?"

Kíli shrugged. "If it means anything to you, Elena's birth name, Elantar, literally translates to 'flower that blossoms in moonlight'. And Elena means something along the lines of 'shining light'. My guess is that you two were born at night, possibly under the night sky, if your parents were traveling."

"Flower that blossoms in moonlight?" Celia repeated, wrinkling her nose.

Kíli shrugged. "A more basic translation would probably be moon-flower, but yeah. Like I said, nighttime probably had some significance for your parents if you were both named after night lights."

Celia snorted. "Oh gosh. I'm named after a nightlight." She waved off his confused look, still chuckling. "Sorry. Ignore me. Future reference. Anyways." She sobered, staring down at her hands as she spoke. "I wonder what my parents were thinking when they named us. If they hoped to bless us, or thank someone who helped them, or simply thought the names were nice."

"Well, you can always ask when this is all over," Kíli suggested cheerfully.

Celia shook her head. "No, I can't, remember? Our parents were part of the Lost Caravan Balin mentioned back in Bag End. They probably didn't survive that." She frowned, wondering if she should voice her thoughts before deciding to do it anyways. "I don't really miss them. Not in the way I miss Mom. Can you miss something you don't remember ever having? And I'm getting off topic, sorry, I just - sometimes I wonder if that makes me a bad daughter," she admitted quietly. "Not missing my parents the way I ought, or thinking about them all the time."

"What?" Kíli's voice was incredulous. "Celia, you never knew your parents, or at least don't remember meeting them. And you were raised by your adopted mother. Of course you're going to miss her more than someone you don't remember! There's nothing wrong with that."

He sighed, his voice quieting. "If it's any consolation, I don't remember my father either. He died about ten years after I was born, and all I really remember is a few scattered memories here and there. I was too young to have formed many permanent memories. Most of my early memories involve Thorin, and not my father. For all intents and purposes, he's the dwarf who raised me and Fíli."

"And you don't think we're... disrespecting them by not thinking about them?" Celia asked timidly, half afraid to hear his answer.

"I think living well is the best way we can honor them, actually," Kíli responded slowly after a moment's thought. "They would have wanted the best for us, and neither of us would have had that if another parental figure hadn't stepped in to help raise us."

Celia mulled over what he had said, eventually resting her head on his shoulder with a small sigh of acceptance. "When did you become so wise, Kíli?" she asked, only half joking.

He rested the side of his head atop hers and didn't respond for a moment. "When I met someone who needed me to be wise and not a joker."

"Don't change yourself for others, Kíli," Celia said quietly.

He hugged her a bit tighter into his side. "I'm not," he assured her before letting out a laugh. "I didn't even care about the opinions of others aside from my family for a long time. But there comes a time when every child has to grow up, and I daresay mine was a bit overdue."

He sighed. "Speaking of growing up, there's something important I need to ask you. Several things, actually, but this one needs to come first."

"I'm listening," Celia promised him, fighting down the surge of emotions that threatened to rise up again at his wording.

Looking out at the horizon, he worded his next question carefully. "Celia, you told us that Dáin would be arriving with his army soon after Bard and Thranduil show up, and then the orcs arrive shortly after them. How soon do you think we have before the battle?"

Celia frowned. "I guess I'm not sure. Not long though, I would think. I'm pretty sure Elena mentioned something about Bard gathering all the able-bodied men to come here and try to get the money they were promised from Thorin. Thranduil shows up shortly thereafter, and I think Dáin arrives within the week. The orcs come on the same day, I think. Thorin said Dáin would be here within the week, and Bard is probably half way here already. So... I don't know. A week? I'd say no more than two at the most."

Kíli nodded, thinking her words over carefully. "Next question. Do you think Elena's arm will be fully healed by that time?"

"No," Celia answered immediately without even having to think about it. "You saw her arm. Even if we put athelas on it, I don't think that she would be back up to full strength within two weeks. That was a pretty bad burn, and she was already dealing with a bad cut on top of that. In two weeks time, assuming we use athelas every day and the armies don't show up until then... the burn would be mostly healed, but there would still be tissue damage present, enough to at least hinder her in the fight. And that's not even considering the possibility that the battle comes before then, or that she has no complications. Why?"

Kíli frowned, taking a deep breath before telling her what he was thinking. "Do you think it would be better if she was able to stay in Erebor for the duration of the battle? Or perhaps we could convince her to stay further back?"

"Of course I think it would be better if she wasn't involved. Everything else aside, she's still putting herself at risk. Except if we manage to steal the Arkenstone, you know Thorin's gonna ask if she was involved, and she's not gonna be able to tell him 'no'," Celia reminded him. "We're gonna have to leave. If things go like how we expect them to, there's no way we're gonna be able to stay here, even if she is injured."

Kíli hesitated, pulling away from her to stand in front of her, his face dead serious. "What if she didn't know about us stealing the Arkenstone?"

Celia stared at him. "Explain," she demanded.

"If we - you and I - manage to distract Thorin long enough for Bilbo to steal the Arkenstone the night before Thranduil shows up, Bilbo will still be able to give it to them as a bargaining chip, and will still be banished like you said," Kíli explained. "Which will mean that whatever object you think is further harming us will be gone with him. But since Elena wasn't involved, Thorin will hopefully leave her alone, and just focus on us."

"Which means that you'll likely be banished with me and Bilbo," Celia pointed out.

Kíli shrugged. "I can still help fight by your side, can't I? Keep an eye out on a certain danger-prone someone; help get you to the others when the battle comes, so we can keep an eye on my brother and uncle. And it's not like this is the first time I've aligned myself with you over Thorin."

Celia shook her head. "I don't like it. At least, not the part where you get banished too. If you stay in Erebor, you can keep an eye on my sister, and maybe help keep people a bit more level-headed, too. I don't think everyone's as bad as Thorin is, you can try and pull them out of it. You've known them longer than I have, you'll probably have better luck at it than me."

"Except Fíli can keep an eye on your sister just as much as I can, and _I_ don't like the idea of you leaving Erebor all on your own either," Kíli objected. "If I go with you, then you'll have someone who knows the gist of what's going to happen and can help you. If I'm still in Erebor, who knows if we'll find each other on the battlefield. I don't want you to have to face your first real battle alone when I could be there to help you."

"Yeah, but I'm assuming that we're planning on keeping Fíli in the dark about this plan as well as my sister?" Celia asked with a raised eyebrow, looking unsurprised when Kíli nodded reluctantly. "So that means that they're both going to find out what's going on when it all comes out. They're going to need someone to tell them what's going on."

"I think they'll be able to figure it out," Kíli said dryly. "But what about Bilbo? How much are we going to tell him? Do we flat out ask him to steal the Arkenstone, knowing what will happen without telling him? Do we tell him everything? Do we try and steal it ourselves?"

Celia wrinkled her nose. "I hadn't thought about that," she admitted. "I think... if we're going to involve him, he deserves to know what's going on. We tell him all beforehand and give him the choice. But we have to make sure that he knows he doesn't have to," she added hastily. "He'll do it out of a sense of obligation if we make it seem like he's the only one who can do it. If he says yes, we create a distraction as soon as we see Thranduil show up or something, and give Bilbo the chance to steal it. Then..." she shrugged. "I guess Thorin finds out the next day, and I admit my part, and I find myself banished."

"We admit our parts, you mean," Kíli said firmly. "I don't want you to have to leave alone unless you absolutely have to, and I don't want Thorin thinking that I don't fully support you all the way."

"Maybe that's something we can figure out closer to the date," Celia grudgingly gave in. "Are we decided, then?"

Kíli nodded slowly. "We're going to steal the Arkenstone."

* * *

 **A/N: So... who saw that coming?**

 **Fun Fact: This chapter lays the groundwork for an important plot development a few chapters down the line, and no, I'm not talking about them stealing the Arkenstone... ;)**

 **I hope all my fellow American readers have a very Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope all my other readers have a wonderful Thursday! ;D**

 **Oh, and another fun fact: Celia really does mean heavenly, and Elena really does mean shining light (Latin and Greek roots respectively)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to PhoenixLordess, Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, TurtleJustice, and Child of Dreams for reviewing!**

 _ **PhoenixLordess: Thank you, you too! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: :D Would you be happy if I told you that there was more sap coming in future chapters? (And more trouble, of course, because that's what Thorin is good at.) One chapter on Elena and Fíli coming up! (We'll have to see where it leads, however... should prove interesting...) Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: I am feeling a lot better, thank you!** **And I'm glad it made you feel better (Hope everything's going okay with your puppy now!) Elena and Fíli should be back next chapter, we'll have to see what they were up to... *waggles eyebrows* And good guess with the title - I've actually had several people guess that we were back to Mirkwood. :) Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 _ **TurtleJustice: Haha, the wait for romance continues... (although I did give you guys some this chapter, right? ;)) Haha, I'm glad you liked it! Don't worry about not reviewing every chapter. While I love getting reviews from my readers, simply knowing that people are actually reading my work is satisfying enough. (Although this was an awesome review, it just made my day when I got it) Thanks for an amazing review - I'm so glad you like this story, and my characters - and I hope you liked this new chapter! :D**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: What's that you say? You want more puns? Okay! :D Lol, yeah. The punny chapter was something I'm both proud and ashamed of lmho. There probably won't be a chapter like that again anytime soon, don't worry. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	65. Chapter 65 - Night Terrors

~~ Elena ~~

"So, question," Elena said as soon as their siblings were out of the room, putting down her sketching materials.

"Answer," Fíli responded calmly, still bent over his knife.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Very funny, smart aleck. Anyway. Do you think that they think they're being subtle? Like, that no one's figured them out yet?"

"Well, no one's figured us out yet," he commented smartly, lifting his head to waggle his eyebrows at her.

"It's almost like there's a reason for that," she remarked sarcastically, drawing a hand to her heart and staring at him in wide-eyed shock.

He shrugged. "I just thought it was 'cause you wanted to skew the results of the betting pool."

"Well, I mean, there was that, too," she admitted with a laugh. "My informant tells me that the dates they're placing are changing more frequently, _and_ there was a large increase in money placed shortly after we returned from Lake-town."

"Huh. And here I thought we were being subtle," the prince blinked.

Elena snorted. "I mean, I thought we were, but apparently not. Nice going, princeling."

"Oh, sure, as if it was all my fault people are making assumptions that may or may not be true," he retorted without heat, studying his knife before determining it was sharp enough and putting the knife and whetstone away. Standing up, he stretched with a sigh before coming over to sit by her, his left shoulder brushing against her right. "And I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that."

Pretending - and most likely failing - to be unaffected by his closeness, she stuck her nose in the air. "We agreed to lots of things in Lake-town, Fíli. I don't recall that being one of them."

"There were lots of things that weren't said in Lake-town," Fíli teased, watching her carefully with a small smile playing about his lips.

She dragged her eyes from where they'd involuntarily fallen at the motion up to his. "And lots of things that were. Any regrets?"

"Absolutely," he said with emphasis, before leaning into her space, a smile creeping onto his face. "Just not the important things that were said." He paused, grin becoming roguish. "Or done." She cursed him mentally as her cheeks began to burn. "Do you have any?"

"R-regrets?" she managed to stutter out, heart skipping a beat at the unfairly attractive look.

He nodded, grin still firmly in place.

She narrowed her eyes, determined to not be the only one affected. Taking a deep breath and clamping down on her traitorous heart, she steeled herself against him as best as she could and put her face close to his, relishing in the look of surprise and faint blush that spread across his face.

"I think most of my regrets - assuming I had any, aside from a certain dragon incident - involve what _didn't_ happen, rather than what did," she purred.

He swallowed hard, blue eyes darkening ever so slightly. Then he rallied, tilting his head just enough that his breath blew across her ear when he spoke, the words coming out in a faint, teasing whisper, voice husky. "Not for lack of desire."

Abort mission, _abort mission_ , _**abort mission**_.

She squeaked, brain misfiring so many cylinders that she just stared at him blankly, eyes wide and face red.

He pulled back with a nervous laugh. "Too much?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, and his own face heating up.

"Maybe just a little," she admitted, voice breathy and higher than usual.

"Sorry," he apologized, avoiding her gaze. "I think I got a little too into it, there."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her fluttering heart. "It's okay," she assured him. "I did too. But it's nothing we didn't talk about and agree to. And..." She looked away shyly. "I didn't... _dis_ like it. I just... got flustered. I'm not really used to this sort of thing."

"Oh." His voice was soft before it grew teasing again. "Guess the only way to fix that is by repeated exposure, huh?"

She turned to look at him, and he was waggling his eyebrows at her exaggeratedly. She couldn't help the snicker that flew out, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she did so. "You dork," she laughed, shaking her head at him. "You try to pretend that you're all... calm, and suave, and... princely. And then people get to know you, and you're just this dork who tries too hard."

He sniffed, sticking his nose up in the air haughtily. "I am a classy dork, I'll have you know. I may have some natural talent," he told her, preening, "but it took effort to achieve this level of dorkiness. Not everyone is this talented."

She rested her chin on her hand and grinned at him. "Ah, yes. How could I forget how classy you were? Stuttering over your words and dropping things the way you were, how could I not see it?"

"Those were extenuating circumstances," he informed her as if it were obvious, bumping his shoulder gently against hers. "And I don't recall you complaining."

She hummed thoughtfully, eyes turning back to her sketchbook on the floor. "That implies that there was something wrong with what happened. And as far as those sorts of things go, it... wasn't awful. It was pretty nice, in fact," she admitted.

Fíli snorted. "'As they go,'" he repeated mockingly. "How many of those types of conversations have you had?"

"Only one that's mattered so far," she retorted coolly, pretending to examine her nails and smiling to herself when he sputtered. "Getting back on track," she continued before he could speak, "Do you think we should tell them that we know?"

"Who? Kíli and Celia?" Fíli confirmed, expression becoming more serious. She nodded. He shrugged. "I guess I don't really see the point in it. At least, not yet. We still don't know if he'll actually be able to work up the nerve to even say anything. I don't want to spoil anything if he's planning something - which we all know he is."

"And despite what she says, Cel really can be oblivious sometimes," Elena admitted reluctantly.

Fíli snorted. "Sounds like it runs in the family, then." Elena glared at him without heat. He just raised an eyebrow at her. "Need I remind you what happened when I first brought the subject up?"

She held up a hand. "Say no more. Point taken. It runs in the family." She sighed. "Okay, so we can't tell them that it's incredibly obvious what's going on until they admit it. Do you think we can play around with the betting pool for them a little more, pretend we have insider information?"

Fíli pondered it for a moment before frowning curiously. "I thought you already had?"

"Eh." She shrugged, wincing when the bandages on her left arm scraped against the wall. Rubbing gently at the spot, she waved her left hand half-heartedly in the air. "That was more us than them. I may have given my insider money to place for us, since we obviously can't place our bets in person."

"Well... we would technically be considered heavily biased," Fíli pointed out, eyes flitting to her bandages before returning to her face, his gaze stopping just short of her eyes. "And we kind of are, you know, heavily biased."

She pouted. "Yeah, but the whole bet involves us. We have to take advantage of it somehow."

"Yeah." Fíli's voice was distracted, and he leaned in closer, peering at her cheek.

She frowned, leaning back slightly. "Fíli? Is there something wrong with my face?"

"No, just - hold on," he muttered, lifting his hand to her cheek. Still confused, she let him, only for him to just carefully pinch his fingers along her cheekbone before pulling away. Holding his index finger out under her nose for her to see, he explained simply, "Eyelash."

Nearly going cross-eyed trying to see, she pushed his hand away gently so that she could see better. About to make some comment about making a wish, a throat clearing jerked them away from each other, faces flaming with red.

"It was just an eyelash -" Elena started automatically, trailing to a stop when she saw Bilbo standing there with his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised.

"I would like you to know that while I respect your right to privacy, and thus will be informing no one until you decide otherwise, Bofur now owes me ten silver coins," he informed them casually before slinging his pack over his shoulder and disappearing as quickly and quietly as he had come in.

Elena and Fíli stared after him for a long minute. "But... nothing actually happened," she said at last.

Fíli eventually just shook his head with a sigh, getting ready for bed. "So much for being subtle."

xXx

 _Everything was on fire. Well, technically not, but it felt like it._

 _Wait, something just exploded._

 _Okay, now everything was on fire._

 _Elena wiped the sweat off her forehead, wiping her now damp hand off on her pants with a grimace. "Okay. Where am I, and how did I get here?" she muttered, pushing herself to her feet - when had she sat down? - and looking around nervously._

 _Intense heat and occasional blazing fires aside, the area seemed to be pretty desolate. Although, come to think of it, she did seem to be in some sort of abandoned fortress or castle, complete with ruins, dark sky, and a creepy atmosphere. She could hear talking up ahead, both of the voices sounding dark and twisted._

 _So of course she crept closer._

 _Ha, that was a lie. She knew what was happening. She'd seen the movies. You never go to the ominous whispers in the distance unless you want to be the first person to die. So, determined to live through this real-life attempt at a horror movie, she turned to leave._

 _And found she couldn't. Great._

 _This had to be a dream. Or a nightmare. She was leaning more towards the second. But if this is a nightmare, she could just wake myself up now that I'm aware of it, right? she figured, pinching herself on the arm._

 _Or maybe not, she thought sourly a minute later, rubbing the new red spot on her arm. But if she woke up in a strange new place, with no memory of getting here, then that means it was still probably a dream. Right?_

 _Well, nobody told her she was wrong, so until she got evidence saying otherwise, that's the assumption she was going with. Unable to leave, she - reluctantly, because she'd still seen the movies, dream or not - headed towards the voices._

 _Keeping low to the stony ground, she crept forward until there was only a broken parapet between her and the voices. Panting for breath - struggling to do so even more with the intense heat - she peered around the rocks -_

 _\- and immediately crouched back down again, eyes wide._

 _There were orcs there. Lots of orcs. Lots of ugly, mean, very-homicidal-looking orcs. A few wargs, you know, to balance things out. Little bit of blood on their jaws, nothing too alarming._

 _Oh, and a Ringwraith or two, if the ghostly apparitions with robes and crowns meant anything._

 _She could practically feel her chances of survival dwindling into the single digits, her blood freezing in her veins._

 _" **The wizard is nearly dead. He's no longer of any concern** ," one of the orcs growled. " **We'll be ready to move towards Erebor tomorrow, free of his interference.** "_

 _" **Yeah, but he's not the only one we need to worry about, is he?** " one of the others retorted, breath hissing out into the night air. Head tilted slightly forwards to avoid looking directly at its face, he pulled out a knife with dried blood on the blade and presented it to the Ringwraith. " **One of the scouts from Lake-town overheard the leader of the bilge-rats speaking to his men. There's a wanderer in Lake-town, though he didn't know who.** "_

 _A hiss of air that felt like ice cut through the air, sending shivers down her spine. Her breath caught in her throat as she listened anxiously for a response. They knew there was a randir in Lake-town? Could this get any more bad?_

 _" **Ensure your information is correct, orc, and I will inform the Master** ," the Ringwraith said at last, his voice grating like nails on a chalkboard and leaving her petrified in her spot, unable to move. " **Should you uncover the identity of this supposed wanderer, he will be very pleased. A wanderer has not walked in these lands for over an age. Their possible presence is... interesting."**_

 _Oh, this was very not good. She had to get out of here. Dream or not, she could see no version where this ended well if they found her. She tried to crawl forward to get out of there, but found herself frozen to the ground, terror riveting her in place._

 _" **Perhaps we do not have far to look after all.** " _

_No, no, no, no! She had to get out of there!_

 _" **Someone is listening**."_

 _But she couldn't move, was practically frozen despite her fingers trembling. She heard a swish of fabric behind her, coming closer, an icy breath wrapping around her despite the flames still burning all around. Unbidden, tears started to trickle down her numb cheeks as she trembled, torn between her need to look and see if anyone was coming, and her fear of what she might see._

 _" **It would seem they walk among us**."_

 _Hyper-aware of each footstep, each swish of fabric as they came closer, she struggled to draw in a breath as each one caught in her throat. If she could just draw her knife, she might be able to defend herself -_

 _A hand wrapped around her arm, digging tight into the still healing skin and sending out icy waves of pain that only increased with each passing second. She tried to scream, thought she did, but any sound she may have made was swallowed up by the ghostly figure leaning over her, a skeleton grin on its ghastly face before its head darted to the side._

 _" **There is another here. Find them**!"_

 _And that meant something bad, but she couldn't think what, couldn't think past the blinding terror already overwhelming her and choking out her breath, couldn't think couldn't think couldn't think -_

 _And then there was more whispering in her ears and instead of one hand on her arm there were two on her shoulders and this was so much worse because now the pain in her arm was radiating and it was hot and cold all at once and it hurt make it stop make it stop make it stop -_

And then Fíli was there, his face white as a ghost as he shook her, whispering her name over and over, pleading with her to wake up, to breathe, to come back to him.

And she was trying to, she really was, but there was a lump in her throat the size of a boulder, and she still couldn't breathe past it, and there was still the overwhelming terror and certainty of near death, and she could still feel the chill wrapping around her arm and freezing all the life within.

Fíli was starting to panic now, and she still couldn't breathe, and she was so scared that she was going to die, she could hear ringing in her ears, and his words were muffled, and she wanted to listen, she really did, but she couldn't breathe anything besides pathetic little gasps that weren't actually doing anything, and her chest was starting to hurt everything was so tight, and she didn't know what was going on, and -

And then Fíli was picking her up and carrying her out of the guardroom, and she caught a glimpse of a worried Kíli bending over her visibly distressed but still asleep sister, but then she blinked and they were in the tunnels. She blinked again and they were outside on the lookout, with the distant light of the sunrise appearing in the east.

He set her down on the ground against the wall, rubbing her back gently with one hand and grasping her hands tight with the other. She still couldn't hear him over the ringing in her ears, but she kept her eyes on his as he talked in a low, soothing voice, and gradually noticed her breathing slowing to match his - deliberately - deep and even breaths.

The ringing in her ears diminished until she could actually hear what he was saying, although most of it was just random conversation about anything and everything, and he stopped when he noticed she was actually focusing on him.

"Hey, there. You with me?" he asked quietly. When she nodded, albeit uncertainly, he let out an unsteady breath and let his head fall on her shoulder. "Thank the Valar, Elena. You scared the life out of me. I woke up, and you were whimpering in pain, and then you weren't breathing, and then you _wouldn't wake up_." His voice caught on the last part and he looked away, ashamed.

"I-I don't -" Her voice was raspy and she cleared her throat awkwardly before trying again. "What happened? What was that?"

He sighed, sitting back up and unconsciously playing with her hands, threading his fingers through hers. "I'm not positive, but I think it was a panic attack. I recognized some of your symptoms from dwarves who'd gone through some sort of traumatic event back in the Blue Mountains."

"What? No, you're - I didn't - why would I have a panic attack in my dream?" she stuttered.

He shrugged cautiously, lifting his blue eyes to meet hers. "I don't know. What did you dream about?" He paused. "Unless you don't want to talk about it of course," he added hastily. "You only just got over a panic attack, you're going to be tired, and worn out, and I don't want you to be stressed out any more than you already are."

"No. I don't - I think I'll be fine. I need to talk about it," she determined after some thought, keeping her fingers woven through his. "Just... don't let go?"

"I give you my word," he promised solemnly.

"Thanks." She swallowed hard, memories of her dream already trickling back, although thankfully without the freezing terror this time. "I was in some sort of abandoned fortress, I think. There were orcs there. Lots of orcs, and wargs. And at least one Ringwraith." Her hands trembled in his as she remembered the heart-stopping terror of the moment her gaze had fallen on the ghostly figures. "One of the Nine."

Fíli's hands fell slack in hers. His eyes searched hers, and she met his gaze honestly. "One of the Nazgûl? You dreamed of the Nazgûl?" he asked in horror.

She nodded unhappily. "I don't know if they were talking in the Black Speech or not, but I could understand them. It was talking to some of the orcs about a wizard - something about him being nearly dead and..." She slowed to a stop as she started to realize the implications. "No longer being a problem," she finished slowly, eyes wide.

"Do you think they meant Gandalf?" Fíli whispered.

She chewed her lip before nodding. "I think so. The orc said he wouldn't be able to interfere anymore, and Gandalf's the only wizard who's been doing any interfering recently. And then... And then..." She shuddered again at the memory, rubbing at her arm absentmindedly as a chill ran down it. "It said they'd had spies in Lake-town, and one of them had overheard the Master talking about a wanderer in town. They didn't know who I was, but they knew I was there, and they were going to go looking for me."

Her voice quieted, and Fíli, sensing her distress, rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs in an attempt to calm her. It didn't work, but she was grateful for the attempt and shot him a weak smile. "But that wasn't the worst of it. It was bad enough that they knew about our presence in Middle Earth, but the Ringwraith - it actually sensed me there with them! It could tell that someone was there with them, and it started looking around for me."

Fíli just looked horrified. "Elena, did it touch you?" he asked slowly.

She nodded, trying to swallow around the large lump in her throat. "It felt like my arm had been turned to ice."

"Which arm?" he asked immediately.

She frowned. "Fíli, it's fine now. I'm awake, it's gone, it's not touching me anymore."

He shook his head, refusing to back down. "No, you don't understand. Which arm?"

Taken aback by his intensity, she pointed silently to her left arm.

Lifting his hands to her left arm, he waited for her nod to roll up the sleeve far enough that they could see the bandages wrapped around the bicep. Carefully starting to unroll them, he pulled them away and folded them into a neat pile and set them on his lap so that they weren't touching the ground.

"Okay, now that you've exposed my still healing burn to the outside air, care to tell me what you're doing?" Elena questioned him. "It's not exactly going to get the chance to heal if you keep poking at it."

Fíli gave an annoyed huff, rolling his eyes before examining the wound, careful not to touch the burn that still wrapped around her arm. "Thought so." There was no satisfaction in the words, only worry.

"Thought what?" Elena retorted, finally glancing down at her arm. "Fíli, it looks almost exactly the same as it did a few days ago. What were you expecting to see?"

"This," he said, drawing her attention to the shallow gash on her arm.

It had mostly healed before this point, but now what was left of the area was open and weeping, heat radiating from the area. What was arguably more concerning was the thin black veins scattered around the wound, radiating outwards and looking very not good.

"Oh."

Fíli raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, 'oh.' I never heard of them being able to spread their sickness through a dream, but then again, I never heard of anyone really dreaming about them either." He frowned. "Physically, how is your arm feeling right now?"

She considered her arm, frowning when she realized something else was going on. "Numb. I thought it would be sensitive, if not already pained just because it's clearly infected and raw. But if anything, it's cold. Cold and numb, if that makes sense." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't look very surprised. Why?"

Fíli didn't answer her directly, just stood up and helped her to her feet, steadying her when her tired legs wobbled beneath her and holding her bandages in the other hand. "I think we need to talk to Kíli and Celia. And probably Óin."

"Why?" she asked slowly.

"Because if I'm right, you might need to leave Erebor."

* * *

 **A/N: There's plot here. It may not look like it, but there's actual plot here. (And possibly some groundwork for the sequel, but you didn't hear that from me).  
**

 **Also, side note: I figured that Fíli (and Kíli) as princes, would be a lot more informed than the average dwarf about things like the Nazgûl. Hence his as of yet undisclosed conclusion.**

 **I did ask if you guys wanted a sequel in the (now removed) author's note, and the response to that was entirely positive, so thank you for that *wipes tear* Y'all are so nice. I do, in fact, have plans for a sequel, so we'll see how that turns out as things go along.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Tibblets, Child of Dreams, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing!**

 _ **Tibblets: Oh, yay. So glad I have that to look forward to, lol. Thanks for your input on the questions! *insert generic thank-you here* Like I said, I won't be making a firm decision on Frerin anytime soon due to differing opinions, but most people seem to want a sequel. (including you, so thank you for that!) I have a few ideas in the works at the moment, so it should be interesting. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: Lol, which part tortured you so that I can do it again? *cough* I mean, so that I can NEVER do it again. Never ever. Anyways, thanks for your input on Frerin, it's been added to the list. :D Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Thank you! It got pretty awful (though not serious) for a while there, so I'm glad that I'm finally starting to get over it. Hope you like it! :D**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	66. Chapter 66 - The Shadow's Touch

~~ Celia ~~

Celia awoke to someone's hand over her mouth. Still half asleep, she only saw a figure bending over her and panicked, kicking out wildly and attempting to scramble backwards.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he hissed her name and kept her from moving any further until she managed to focus on him, only then realizing that it was Kíli. As soon as he saw awareness come into her eyes, he released her, but didn't step back entirely, moving his hand up to her temple and placing the back of his hand against it.

"By Durin, Celia, you're cold as ice!" he hissed, drawing his hand back and rubbing it. "Are you all right?"

She tried to respond, but found that no words came out of her mouth, leaving her staring up at him with wide, frightened eyes. She swallowed hard, the motion hurting her dry throat, and tried again to no avail.

Shaking her head and trying to shove down her fright, she pushed herself up to a sitting position with shaking hands. She shivered when the motion allowed her blanket to drop from her shoulders, exposing her to the cold wind where her blood chilled and her breath turned into fog in the air.

Unnoticed went the fact that Kíli's breath hadn't.

Hastily grabbing the blanket, she wrapped it around her shoulders and felt around for her pack, wincing when her fingers made contact with the cold ground in her search. Looking worried, Kíli reached over and grabbed it from the ground next to her pillow and handed it to her.

She mouthed her thanks to him, her breath once again fogging the air. Digging in her pack, she grabbed her water bottle and tried to untwist the cap with shaking hands. After her fourth failed attempt, Kíli gently took it from her and unscrewed the lid, handing it back to her.

She drank thirstily, water trickling down the sides of her mouth in her haste. Putting it down with a gasp, she tried again to speak, this time the words coming out in a rusty croak.

"Th-thank you. Where's Elena?"

"Fíli woke her up. She was having trouble breathing, so he took her outside to help her calm down," Kíli whispered, grabbing his blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders as well when she continued to shiver. "He'll take care of her, he's seen a panic attack before."

"A p-panic attack?" Celia tried to stand up, but caught her feet on the blankets wrapped around her legs and would have hit the ground if Kíli hadn't scrambled to his feet to catch her. "Wha-at happ-happ-en-ed?"

She grimaced when her words came out all stuttery and shaky, and tried to say them again only to meet with the same result. Letting go of Kíli, she reached down to grab her water bottle, only for her shaking fingers to nearly tip the still open bottle over and spill all over the floor until Kíli caught it.

Glóin let out a grumble in his sleep and turned over, both of them freezing until it became apparent that he was still asleep.

"I don't think we should talk here," Kíli whispered, glancing around. "If this conversation is heading where I think it is, we don't want the others waking up and possibly finding out something they shouldn't. Can you walk by yourself?"

Celia shot him a dirty look at the insinuation. Slinging her pack over her shoulder with one hand, and grabbing her water bottle with the other - although careful to balance it in the crook of her elbow rather than trust it to her traitorous fingers - she took off for the Great Hall with him close behind, the blankets swishing around her ankles with every step.

She regretted turning him down halfway there when her legs started to tremble, but kept going, stubbornly determined to not faceplant until they got there.

When they finally reached the large hall with a new, shiny gold floor, she hurried over to one of the large pillars and sat down, leaning against it and closing her eyes with relief. Some of the cold from the stone transferred through the blankets to her back, and she shivered, letting out a breath that turned to fog before slowly dissipating.

Opening her eyes, she carefully set her water bottle down next to her pack - there was no way she could try to close it with her fingers the way they were - she drew out the miniature journal she'd been keeping with the few papers Ori had given her.

Grabbing her pen and inkwell, she dipped the instrument in the liquid before staring at it in frustration when her hand shook too much for the writing to come out legible. Holding it out to Kíli when he sat down across from her, she asked reluctantly, "Ca-can you write the dr-dream for me? I don't - I don't think I can right - right now, and I've been try - trying to keep a record." She said the last words with a huff, hating how she'd practically had to force the words to come out.

Taking the proffered items willingly enough, he glanced through the written pages until he found the section she'd been keeping on her and Elena's dreams, and moved to the empty space at the bottom.

"Are you sure you're okay with telling me this?" he asked with concern. "I know you've told me and Fíli the other ones, but this is a private matter, and if you decide you wish to wait until you can write it on your own, or perhaps ask Elena to do it for you, I won't hold it against you."

Celia rolled her eyes, pulling her blankets a little closer around her shoulders. "You're my best - best friend, you d-dork. We've been ov - over this. I'd j-just be t-telling you all later any-ways," she said haltingly. "This way, it won't l-look as much like chi-chicken scratch."

"Eh, it still might," Kíli teased her lightly. "You've seen my handwriting. I know it's of questionable legibility."

"I'm - I'm well aw-are, tha-ank you." She grimaced. "I just wi-sh I knew why -why I'm suddenly stutt - stuttering." She shifted in her seat, the movement sending a draft of cold air through her blankets, and she shivered again.

Kíli put down the pen for a moment to regard her carefully, rubbing his chin. Narrowing his eyes suddenly when her breath turned to fog again, he leaned forward abruptly. "Celia, what did you dream about?" he asked sharply.

Celia blinked, taken aback at the sudden non sequitur. Looking back through her memories, surprised to find them already quickly fading despite the intensity she'd felt when she'd woken up, she tried to recall the first thing she'd seen in her dream.

"Uh, it was - it was cold. Very, very c-cold," she shivered at just the memory of her blood freezing in her veins and goosebumps breaking out on her arms. "I remember. It was strange. There were f-fires every-where. But it was so cold. There was this b-bitter wind that seemed to c-cut straight thr-through me." She rubbed her arms in an attempt to return some warmth to them. "And - and I heard voices, s-speaking in - in - in a d-dark lang-uage."

Kíli's eyes were dark, watching her closely, but he didn't say anything. The paper lay forgotten in his lap, inching towards the ground.

"I c-couldn't l-leave. I tried. But I couldn't," she forced out, feeling goosebumps breaking out on her arms again. "There - there were orcs. So many o-orcs, and - and wargs, and these gh-ghostly figures. I f-felt so af-fraid. Just l-looking at them made - made me want to cower on the ground. They were talking - something about - about a wizard, who would likely - die soon, and - and inter-fere no more."

She coughed, taking another drink of her water in hopes it would calm her stuttering. This time, though, when the liquid spilled over onto her cheeks, it was because her hand shook so badly that she couldn't avoid it. She set it back down quickly, her cheeks heating up as she awkwardly wiped at her cheeks. She would almost have been grateful for the warmth if it hadn't come at her expense.

Then she remembered what happened next in her dream, and all hints of warmth were wiped out. "K-Kíli," she gasped, eyes going wide.

He was beside her in a heartbeat, pen and paper abandoned on the floor. "Celia, what's wrong? Are you all right?" he asked urgently, hands grasping her shoulders and sliding down her arms as if to feel for any possible injuries she might have incurred in the last five minutes before stopping at her hands. "Celia, your hands are as cold as ice!" he gasped, holding them in his own.

She chuckled sheepishly, the sound oddly punctuated by a shiver at the end. "S-sorry? Guess my dream sc-scared me more than I th-thought." She reluctantly let go of his warm hands to rub her cold arms again, although he didn't move back from his position beside her, looking even more concerned than before. "I'm all right." Kíli sent her a skeptical look and she amended her statement. "I'm not hurt."

"So what scared you so much?" he asked softly, deliberately scooting close enough that his arm rested against hers.

She was too cold to bother acting embarrassed or moving away, and so gratefully soaked up the extra warmth his nearness provided. "They know we're here."

Kíli stiffened, and she only had a moment to mourn the lack of warmth before he seemed to notice and settled against her again, a little closer than before. "Sorry. But, what? We, as in here in Erebor, or we as in you and Elena are known as randir to them?"

"Well, I don't - I don't know about us being in Erebor," she said tiredly, memories of the scene flitting through her head in between thoughts of how cold she was. "And I don't think they know it's me and Elena specifically. But they know there're randir in Lake-town. App-apparently they had scouts there, and one of them overheard the Master talking to his cronies. The ghost guy said that if they could confirm it, he would inform the master. Like, _the_ Master," she said with emphasis, feeling a chill trickle down her spine.

Kíli took a deep breath, then another, trying to process. "Okay, Celia, do you know who the ghosts are? Who this 'master' figure is?"

"Well, we're too far from the Shire for it to be Barrow-wights," she mused, not liking where her thoughts were leading her. "Orcs only serve one master. For them to be so sub-subservient, the ghosts had to be pretty important figures." She reluctantly lifted her eyes to meet Kíli's, the knowledge in his meeting hers.

She said it anyways. "Nazgûl." A shiver went through her when she said the name, and this time she saw her breath fog in the air, though she was too distracted to do more than briefly wonder why Kíli's didn't do the same.

Kíli grimaced. "That was what I figured. Orcs and Nazgûl share the same master. If they know, or at least suspect that you're here... We may very well see at least one of them in the battle in an attempt to confirm your presence. If the dark lord has gathered enough power to awaken one of the Nazgûl, he has enough power to awaken all nine. We need to be prepared. If only Gandalf were here..." He stopped. "Gandalf. You said they mentioned a wizard being unable to interfere."

Celia coughed, leaning further into his warmth when her chills returned. "Uh-huh. And I think - I think..." She reached across for her journal, flipping through the pages until she stopped on one page written in an abbreviated shorthand known only to herself and her sister.

"Th-that's right," she nodded, finger tapping on one of the lines. "G-Gandalf gets c-captured by - by the orcs in D-Dol Guldur, and comes across a w-weakened version of the d-dark lord. He gets saved before he d-dies, but if they know ab-about us, they c-could t-torture him for - for infor-mation since th-they know he's in-involved."

"What happened next?" Kíli asked quietly, pretending to lean in further to her so that he could study the page.

She felt her heart start to pound in her chest, the freezing terror start to creep up her legs and through her body again. "They found us," she whispered hollowly, eyes no longer seeing the Great Hall, but rather the empty eye sockets of a ghostly skeleton as she almost ran face-first into a Nazgûl as she tried to flee.

"They knew we were there. Or th-that I was there, at least. I don't kn-know about Elena. I tried to run. One of them found me. There was this hideous screeching - it froze me, filled me with this absolute terror. I d-don't know if it grabbed me or not, but I think I almost st-started screaming too. That's when I woke up, and you had your hands over my mouth." She shuddered, her breath turning into fog as she exhaled.

Kíli grabbed her hand, and she almost drew it back instinctively, the sudden heat almost too much for her to handle after the chill she'd felt since she'd awakened. "That's why," he muttered in grim realization.

"H-huh?" she stammered, drawing back to the present and looking over at him. "Wh-what do you m-mean?"

"You're shivering," he said shortly, gaze still fixated on her hands. "The stammering. How cold your skin is. The way your breath turns to fog when you get scared, or feel more cold than usual."

She drew her blankets a little tighter about her. "Wh-what about them? It's just leftover from me being so c-cold in my dream." She hesitated. "Isn't it?" she asked, almost pleading.

"Celia," Kíli said seriously, meeting her eyes this time. "Those are both symptoms of cold and fear. It's practically winter here, so you could try to explain it way by that, except... no one else is experiencing those symptoms. The fact that you did so after meeting a Nazgûl, even in your dreams... really makes me worried. I've never heard of the Black Shadow happening through a dream before, but if they were able to sense you through one, who knows what it could be?"

Celia furrowed her brow. "B-black Sh-adow? Wait - you m-mean, like the Black B-breath? How they c-can poison those around them?"

Kíli nodded. "I think we should double check with Óin - assuming he's still himself and hasn't been afflicted by that cursed stone like the rest - first, but otherwise, you might have to go to the elves for healing. We're practically out of athelas, and none of us - even Óin - are skilled in the healing of the Black Shadow. But the elves are renowned for their skill, and it may be what you need. Because this -" he indicated her shivering body with one hand, "isn't natural."

"It could just be a cold," Celia argued weakly through another bout of shivers.

"Right. And just how many pure coincidences have you come across in your time here in Middle Earth?" Kíli asked her with a raised eyebrow.

She acquiesced with a grumble. "Fine. It's been s-several days since Elena and Fíli returned from Lake-town, so B-Bard and his men should be here any day now, if not today. Which means that we'll have to get the Ark-Arkenstone soon, and then I'll probably wind up banished along with Bilbo, which means that we'll be in the elvish camp. If I'm still ex-experiencing symptoms by then, they c-can check me over. H-happy now?"

Kíli hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe. Have you given thought to whether or not you've accepted that I'm coming with you when you leave?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I st-still say you should st-stay with my s-sister."

"Except Fíli will be here to look out for her," Kíli reminded her. "And if I stay here too, then that means that you have no one except for Bilbo who you can trust to watch your back in Bard's camp. And no offense to Bilbo, but he's nowhere near as trained in the art of war as I am." When she still looked unconvinced, he softened his tone. "Celia. Please. I just don't want to see you get hurt, especially not if I could have prevented it."

She looked away, unable to face the honesty in his tone. "M-maybe," she admitted reluctantly, the stuttering this time in no sense due to the cold that seemed to be gathered around her. "But m-maybe I don't w-want you to get hurt either, have you con-considered that?"

He smirked, though not unkindly, tilting his head and letting it rest on her shoulder. "'Course I have. Which gives me all the more reason to want to keep you safe. Funny how that works, huh?"

"Yeah."

They sat in a companionable silence for a while after that, just watching the light of the sun getting brighter and brighter in the room. Eventually Kíli got to his feet, offering a hand and helping Celia up, gathering all her stuff into her bag and closing her water bottle.

"We should probably go find Elena and Fíli, talk to them about what we think is happening," he decided.

Celia wrinkled her nose when he slung her pack over his own shoulder rather than let her carry it. "I'm not an in- invalid, you know. Just because my - my hands shake doesn't mean I c-can't carry some-something on my back."

"I know, but it's the polite thing to do," Kíli said with a smile, before he shot her a teasing glance. "And maybe I just want to take this bag for my own. It is very comfortable, after all. Nice and roomy, rests well against the back..."

"Thief!" Celia cried, but she couldn't stop a laugh, which really kind of undermined the attitude she was going for, but she was finally starting to feel warm again, so oh well. "I'll forgive you if you help me up to the second level. I want to see what's left of the sunrise before we go back to the rest of the group."

"So needy," Kíli complained, helping her up the stairs and over a particularly large piece of rubble anyways. "How're you feeling? Still cold?"

Celia slid down the rock to the ground and paused contemplatively. "Still cold, I think, but better. It seems I can talk normally again, at least for the moment, and all the feeling is back in my fingers," she added, wiggling said appendages in the air."Told you it was probably just a cold," she teased as they walked outside onto the ledge. "And you didn't believe me."

"Well, if _someone_ didn't have a history of claiming to be fine when they clearly weren't, maybe I would believe them more often," Kíli snarked in return, crossing his arms on the wall and looking out onto the distant glimmer of the lake. "Wait. Hold on. Do you see that?" he said suddenly, leaning over the wall to get a better look.

"See what?" Celia frowned, joining him and following his gaze, squinting against the light of the sun.

"Riiiiight - there!" Kíli pointed to a spot on the lake.

"What?" Celia narrowed her eyes and brought her hand up for shade to see better. At first, all she could see was lake. Then, as her gaze adjusted and she followed his line of sight, she took an involuntary step back in realization. For, faintly visible on the lake, were multiple boats all headed towards Erebor.

Bard.

* * *

 **A/N: Once again, I'm kind of playing around with distances between Erebor and Lake-town here since we have a bit of leeway in the books and movies, so please don't take this as canon, and same for the Black Breath/Black Shadow.**

 **Secondly, I will not be posting my usual update next week due to the holidays, so if I don't see you again until after that, then I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. However, that being said, I am considering uploading an unconnected Christmas-related one-shot to this story, set in an alternate what-if universe where everyone survives the battle unscathed. Basically, it'd be a short and sweet, fluffy NON-canon oneshot about our four heroes set in Erebor. But otherwise, yeah. No regular chapter next week, sorry guys. :/**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Becca-bug-01, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal:Yeah, unfortunately I was unable to write a very long chapter last week, sorry. :P I'm hoping that I'll have more time to write this new year, but we'll have to see. And yep. Celia was there, and clearly having her own difficulties. Thanks for**_ **_reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 _ **Becca-bug-01: Aww, thank you! Your review was so sweet and really made my day when I got it. I'm always thrilled when my story gets new readers, so thanks for letting me know how much you liked it! I really appreciate getting your feedback. Hope you liked this new chapter! :D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Haha, yep! Those darn bad guys, always messing up our plans... ;) We'll have to see just what Elena and Fíli decide... or what gets decided for them... ;) Thanks for reviewing (I'm really glad you liked the chapter, thanks for taking the time to let me know) and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	67. Chapter 67 - Diplomacy Fail

~~ Elena ~~

They were just turning to leave when they heard voices calling their name. Turning again to look for the source, Fíli slipped on loose gravel beneath his feet and knocked into Elena, accidentally sending them both into the wall of the mountain. Tripping over her feet, he dropped the bandages and instinctively put his arm out to keep her from crashing into her, and ended up with his arm outstretched next to her head, his surprised eyes looking down into hers.

And that's when their siblings showed up.

Because of course they would.

"Fíli! Elena! There's something -" Kíli ran out onto the lookout beside them, helping her sister - still wrapped in blankets - over the uneven ground before stopping abruptly when he saw them. He raised his eyebrows. "I see. Good to know that not all of Amad's lessons were wasted. Perhaps we should come back later, Celia. It would seem that our siblings are... otherwise occupied."

Celia - far paler than normal, but looking mischievous enough to distract from it - very deliberately looked them up and down, then waggled her eyebrows at her sister suggestively. "Very nice. I approve," she informed them, clapping her hands.

Fire burning in her cheeks, Elena awkwardly sidled out from underneath an equally red Fíli. "Oh, shut up," she grumbled. "I hope you actually had a good reason for coming out here, and it wasn't just your incredibly awful timing."

Her sister frowned in consideration, pulling the blankets a little tighter under her chin, then turned to Kíli. "You know what, I think it can wait. Let's leave these two alone with their presumably unresolved tension. I feel like that needs more attention than this issue. Let's go, Kíli. I expect detailed reports later, El," she called over her shoulder, threading her arm through his once more.

He looked torn, gaze switching between her and the two of them. "As much as I want to agree with you, we did actually have a good reason for coming out here. Several, actually."

"Oh, fine. Be that way," Celia complained. "Deny a dying girl her last wish." She collapsed dramatically against his arm and pretended to sob. "Nobody loves me! Betrayed by my closest confidante! Is there no loyalty left in life?"

Kíli looked up at the sky with a deadpan expression, as if asking what he did to deserve this. "The whole point of coming out here was so that you _wouldn't_ die, do you remember that?"

"No," Celia whispered in an overly dramatic trembling voice. "Everything's going dark... my memories are slipping away..." She slid down to the ground and curled up against his leg, stretching a shaking hand up to him. "Remember me, when I'm gone. And remember who you are... remember..." She collapsed to the ground in a huddle of blankets, burying herself underneath them.

Kíli just looked down at her with a sigh. "You know, at first I thought you were just joking, but I think I'm actually starting to grow concerned now." He nudged her with one foot. "Are you still alive in there?"

"Mustn't ask us. Not its business," Celia hissed, voice muffled by the blankets.

Elena alone heard the sound of something dripping water and slithering over rocks along with them, and shuddered involuntarily at the memory. "As amusing as this is, I'm the only one who gets your reference, and I'd really rather not. I actually met him, and he tried to eat me. Please don't remind me of that until he doesn't haunt my dreams."

There was some rustling before Celia's head popped out of the blankets, hair messy and the faintest hint of color dusting her pale cheeks. "Sorry. Forgot. Help me up, Kíli?" She extended one hand from the blankets, and he took it, easily helping her up with a fond roll of his eyes.

"Riiiiight," Fíli said slowly, looking only slightly concerned for her sanity. "You said there was an actual reason for coming out here?"

"You don't have to sound so doubtful," Celia grumbled. "What did we ever do to you?"

Everyone just looked at her.

"What?" She huffed. "Fine. Be that way then. Bard's coming. Oh, and I'm probably dying, but no big."

"What?"

" _What?_ "

"Good job not beating around the bush this time," Kíli complimented her brightly. "That's some real progress you're making there. I think it only took you two or three minutes to get to the point. And you didn't even accidentally give away a major secret this time around!"

"... Shut up, Kíli."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold the phone." Elena held her hands up in the air and stared incredulously at her sister. "You're _dying_?"

"Phone? What's a phone, and why do I need to hold it?"

"Well... Maybe, sort of, technically... yes?" Celia said sheepishly, ignoring Kíli's mumbled question.

Elena closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Dare I ask why? And I swear, if this is some sort of 'we'll all die someday' joke, I will throw something at you."

"Rude," her sister complained, before growing serious. "But really, though, it's not looking too hot. Literally." And before she could say anything else, she opened her arms and let the blankets fall to the ground, Kíli hastily scooping them up with a look of concern.

Elena shared a confused look with Fíli before turning back to her sister, who was starting to shiver. "So... you're cold? I don't get it. It's basically winter, and you're standing on the edge of a mountain exposed to the wind. What did you expect?"

Celia shook her head, arms wrapping around herself instinctively as the shivering grew worse. "G-give it a m-m-minute," she stammered. "Oh, l-look. I-it's b-b-back again. Y-yay."

"Celia?" Elena was starting to grow concerned.

"Celia, it's not worth it, you can just tell them," Kíli said worriedly, holding out the blankets with a pleading look on his face.

She shook her head again stubbornly. "Th-this is the b-best way t-to sh-show th-them," she said determinedly.

"Show us what?" Fíli asked in growing concern. "Celia, you're getting really pale. I think you might be coming down with something. You should be inside."

She snorted bitterly. "Y-you d-don't kn-know the - the half of it." She breathed out deliberately, the breath turning to fog in the air before slowly dissipating, though returning in a smaller amount each time she breathed out.

"Okay, you showed them, that's enough," Kíli declared, throwing the blankets around her shoulders. "I don't know if you're making it worse or not by doing that, but it can't be good for you."

"Celia..." Elena slowly found her voice. "What? I don't understand. What's going on?"

"Your breath turned to fog in the air. But no one else's did," Fíli muttered with a frown, brow furrowed. "It's chilly, yes, but Elena, Kíli, and I are all fine with just our coats. A normal fever wouldn't do that." His gaze sharpened. "Does this have something to do with whatever you and Elena dreamed about this morning?"

Celia frowned, leaning into Kíli, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "H-how d-did y-y-you know?"

Elena rolled the sleeve on her left arm back up wordlessly, holding it out for them to see her wound. Now that the sun had risen, it looked even worse in the bright light of day, the bright red sheen of infection standing out next to the black veins spreading out from the wound. "Found this lovely surprise this morning after a horrifying dream that I assume you shared?"

Celia gasped, then shivered so strongly that her grip on the blankets started to slip until she managed to recover them with a shaking hand. Stumbling forward with Kíli's help, she stopped in front of her sister and grabbed her arm to examine it.

Taken aback by the cold, Elena reflexively jerked her arm away with a hiss. "What did you do, Celia, stick your hands in a freezer for an hour? They're like a block of ice!"

"S-sorry," Celia mumbled, tucking her hands under her armpits in an attempt to warm them up. "H-how did th-this happen? Wh-what h-h-happened in y-your dream?"

Elena shuddered at the memory. "Found myself in a clearing with a bunch of baddies. Got grabbed by a Nazgûl, and woke up to Fíli reminding me to breathe. He insisted on checking my arm when he found out my dream, and... voilà! One super-infected arm, courtesy of the dark lord. You?"

But Celia was still focused on her arm. "It actually touched you? D-does it hurt?"

Elena shrugged. "No more than usual. It actually feels more numb than anything. A little bit cold maybe, but that's about it. I mean, obviously, that's not a good sign, but... at least it doesn't hurt? But what about you? What happened to you? It's obviously a lot worse than mine."

"N-not really," Celia shrugged. "Same as you. Cr-creepy castle, b-bad guys, tried to run. Came face to f-face with a ghost that sc-scared the p-pants off of me." She shivered, her breath turning to fog once more. "K-Kíli woke me up b-because I was tr-trying to scream."

"So we both got hurt by the Ringwraiths, even though we were just dreaming about them?" Elena thought aloud. "But why? We've never been hurt by the dreams before, even if we got hurt in the dreams, or woke up terrified. And the Ringwraith didn't even touch you. So why are you affected by it?"

"Th-their aura is d-dangerous, r-remember?" Celia pointed out. "Th-they can infect others with the Bl-black Sh-shadow without even t-touching them. And one of th-them actually grabbed you. K-Kíli said my r-reaction is almost like an ex-exagg-erated fear response. It-it could be that the t-terror they can produce af-fected me somehow. Or..." She shrugged. "Who kn-knows what it could be."

"That still doesn't explain how we got hurt, though," Elena said in frustration. "It was just a dream! Why did it affect us in the real world, too?"

"Well... You girls are randir, correct? Or wanderers to some," Fíli said thoughtfully.

They both nodded, unsure what he was getting at.

"One of the other terms used for randir is world-walkers," he continued. "Because you travel between worlds. Who's to say that, on occasion, you cannot travel between worlds in your dreams as well?"

"But, but, the Ringwraiths and orcs are from this world!" Elena protested. "We weren't traveling between worlds!"

"Maybe not physically," Kíli agreed, starting to catch on to what his brother was saying. "But... maybe because you were in the dream world, or spirit world, perhaps, you were between worlds... and since the Nazgûl are historically part of the spirit world, they were able to sense and thus touch you?"

Elena just stared at him with wide eyes. "Whelp. I'm never sleeping again."

Celia rubbed her arms in a fruitless attempt to get warm and huddled closer to Kíli, her breath misting as she spoke. "I d-don't s-suppose Óin would b-be able to h-help us?"

"We can always try," Elena agreed slowly. "I don't know what we're going to tell him, but it can't hurt. The worst he can do is tell us he can't do anything, right?"

xXx

"I can't do anything, sorry, lass," Óin said with a frown, wrapping her arm with fresh bandages. "We're completely out of athelas, and even if we weren't, I don't know that just mashing it up into a paste would be enough to help this. It looks like you've got a serious infection, and it's not one I've come across before."

Elena nodded somberly. "I wondered. Thanks anyways, Óin. Any suggestions on what I can do to make it better?"

He regarded her for a long moment. "Pray."

Elena blinked, trying not to get too discouraged. "Thanks. That's... great," she said slowly. "My only hope is divine intervention."

Óin waggled his hand in the air. "I wouldn't say only. The elves might know a thing or two about infections, what with plants and herbs being their thing, and all. I can't say much for the elves, but they do know their medicine. But - the closest elves would be in Mirkwood, and we're not exactly on the best terms with them at the moment, even if they weren't a week's travel - and through dangerous territory at that, might I add."

"So you're saying..."

"So I'm saying, you may need to leave Erebor for your own health, assuming that Thranduil doesn't show up with an army and demanding things left and right. If he does, things likely aren't going to end well, but he did seem to like you, so he may very well be willing to let his healers take a look at you."

"Ha!" Kíli whisper-shouted to Celia, who just folded her arms grumpily. "Looks like your argument was a moot point after all."

Fíli snorted, ignoring them with the ease of much practice. "Something tells me he might just be willing after all."

A shouting from the lookout distracted them, and they turned as one towards the noise, making their way out into the large ledge where the rest of the Company was gathered. Ori was standing by the parapet, pointing towards Dale.

"There's an army coming from Lake-town! It looks to be the survivors moving to Dale, but there's an armed force continuing past them to Erebor! They'll likely be here by noon!"

"They must have come for what we promised them," Fíli realized aloud, startling several of the dwarves who hadn't realized he was there.

Thorin scowled. "Dwalin. Start construction on repairing the hole left by the filthy dragon. I want no way for interlopers to get in. This mountain was hard won - I will not see it taken again."

Dwalin nodded, jerking his head towards the rest of the Company and leading the way to the Great Hall.

Kíli frowned. "The people of Lake-town have nothing. They come to us in need. They have lost everything."

Thorin turned away with a sneer. "Do not tell me what _they_ have lost. I know well enough their hardship. Those who have lived through dragon fire should rejoice. They have much to be grateful for."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "Like allies who can be counted upon to keep their word, I assume," she muttered, pretending to be staring off innocently into the distance when Thorin whipped around accusingly.

He stared at them suspiciously before returning to the edge, staring at the fires burning in Dale with a scowl on his face. He turned to where the rest of the dwarves could already be seen busily working layering rocks and tugging pulleys toward the hole left by Smaug.

"More stone! Bring more stone to the gate!" he shouted to them, Dwalin waving a hand in acknowledgement. Casting one last withering look at the distant army, the dwarf king turned and stalked off the ledge, his nephews looking after him in despair.

Elena heard muttering behind her, and turned to see Bilbo whispering under his breath with his eyes closed. "What are you doing, Uncle Bilbo?" she asked when his eyes opened again.

He sighed heavily. "Praying for safety and wisdom for us all. At the rate Thorin is going, he'll alienate all our potential allies until our only possible hope left is the Valar. And this Thorin... I wouldn't put it past him to anger them as well. I may not know everything that is to happen as you do, but even I can see that war is in the making. Whether it be with the humans or not is up to Thorin. I just pray he makes the right decision."

Elena shared a glance with her sister, who nodded, then Fíli, who indicated his agreement as well. It was time.

"Bilbo, we have a proposal for you. It's risky, mad, and very likely to end badly, but it may be what we need to survive."

Bilbo cast her a long, considering glance. "I'm listening."

xXx

Several hours later, they all stood on the lookout, watching as the army of Lake-town marched ever closer, followed by another army, golden armor glistening in the sun.

"Those are elves," Dori said incredulously. "They've brought the elves to Erebor!"

Thorin glanced over at the mountainside, the hole left by Smaug now filled with hastily - yet securely - placed rocks and rubble. "It matters not. They won't get in no matter how hard they try. Gather your weapons. If they bring an army to us unprovoked, we'll return the favor."

"Do you have the note?" Elena whispered to Fíli as they returned to the guardroom to fetch their weapons.

He nodded somberly. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?"

She sighed, strapping her axes into their sheaths. "No. But what choice do we have?"

He grimaced. "None."

When they returned to the lookout, Kíli and Celia were already there, huddled together with their hair blowing in the brisk mountain wind. Celia had added another blanket to her stack, and seemed to have lost all color in her face. Bilbo stood nearby, Sting in its sheath, although he kept his hands firmly held behind his back, a look of extreme distaste upon his face.

"Are you doing okay?" Elena whispered to her sister, stopping by her.

"No. You?"

"No.

The chattering dwarves fell silent as the army fell silent a short distance from the outer wall of Erebor. Bard rode out ahead of them on a horse, pulling to a stop within shouting distance. "Hail Thorin, son of Thrain! We are glad to find you alive beyond hope," he called amicably.

Thorin was not so amicable, and scowled in reply. "Why do you come to the gates of the King under the Mountain armed for war?" he retorted darkly.

Bard raised an eyebrow. "Why does the King under the Mountain fence himself in?" he called back calmly. "Like a robber in his hole."

"Perhaps it is because I am expecting to be robbed," Thorin snarked.

"My lord," Bard said pleadingly. "We have not come to rob you, but to seek fair settlement. Will you not speak with me?"

Thorin glowered at him, but nodded, following a set of stairs of to the side down to the ground to the front of the blockade, where a hole through which they could speak had been made. A crow took off from the ground as he approached, cawing loudly as it flew away and making a few of the dwarves shift nervously. Bard dismounted from his horse and made his way to the other side of the blockade, head held high.

"I'm listening," Thorin said as soon as he was close, the Company listening with bated breath.

"On behalf of the people of Lake-town, I ask that you honor your pledge," Bard started. "A share of the treasure so that they might rebuild their lives."

Thorin scoffed. "I will not treat with any man while an armed host lies before my door."

Bard raised an eyebrow warningly. "That armed host will attack this mountain, if we do not come to terms."

"Your threats do not sway me," Thorin retorted, unmoved.

"And what of your conscience?" Bard retorted, finally showing some anger. "Does it not tell you our cause is just? My people offered you help. And in return you brought upon them only ruin and death!"

Thorin just sneered at him. "When did the men of Lake-town come to our aid, but for the promise of rich reward?"

"A bargain was struck!" Bard reminded him angrily.

"A bargain?" Thorin spat. "A bargain? What choice did we have but to barter our birthright for blankets and food? To ransom our future in exchange for our freedom? You call that a fair trade? Tell me, Bard the Dragonslayer..." Bard looked up, surprised, but then glanced over at Elena, visible on the lookout, and understanding dawned. Thorin continued. "Why should I honor such terms?"

"Because you gave us your word! Does that mean nothing to you?" Bard shouted at him.

Thorin scoffed. "You speak of going back on your word, and yet you ally yourself with Thranduil the oathbreaker. You would be wise to not place your trust in him, lest he leave you to die as he did us."

"You mean like you're doing to us?" Bard challenged him. Thorin stiffened, and Bard continued his attack, strengthening in his resolve with each word. "We agreed to help you, aye, in return for gold, but that does not diminish our claim. The wealth of Erebor is so great that even a partial claim to it would not lessen your strength in the slightest, but only serve to help the people of Lake-town who have only suffered at your hand, not profited. Tell me, Oakenshield. If you had gone through and struck no bargain with my people, and we still suffered because of your dealings with the dragon, what would be your claim then, for refusing to help? To let innocent men and women and children suffer and die, all because of your greed for gold?"

Thorin whipped around to face him, rage blackening his face. "You speak to me of greed when you stand on my doorstep and ask for treasure not your own? Be gone, ere arrow fly!" he growled, turning away from the man.

Bard's own face darkened in contempt. "So this is how the dwarves honor their word. With foul words and fouler deeds. So be it. May your kin give you peace, for you will find no more with us."

* * *

 **A/N: Thorin... you're not being very nice right now... And it doesn't look like things will be getting better any time soon... Celia's getting worse, Bard is cross, Bilbo is determined, and Thorin's just a jerk rn. :/**

 **I hope you guys had a very Merry Christmas, and an equally Happy New Year! Mine was great (even if we did get our snowfall the day after Christmas - and then it was a 3 day blizzard. *Sigh* lol, such is life, I suppose).**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, and ColdOnePaul for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Right now, it's looking like Celia. Obviously, however, that remains to be seen... :/ Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: D: Yeah, the Ringwraiths are never fun to deal with. Kíli is quite persistent, lol, and will not be giving up any time soon. I hope you had happy holidays as well! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: Yeah, I'm kind of working a little off of what's in canon, and kind of also making it up as I go, so please don't take it as canon. Because it's not. D: Thanks, and I hope you had very happy holidays as well! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	68. Chapter 68 - Family Feud

~~ Celia ~~

Celia drew a deep breath and tucked her blankets a little tighter around her shoulders, watching Bard stalk angrily away from the gate. "Th-that's it, then. Thorin's c-cast his lot."

"And it's almost time for us to cast ours," Fíli said grimly, his face still twisted in disgust from the earlier proceedings. Pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket, he slipped a single piece of gold inside the folds, then wrapped the whole thing in cloth and tied it to a rock. Stepping up to the edge of the lookout, he called aloud, "Bard!"

The bargeman turned around before his wary gaze found them. "What is it, Master Dwarf? Do you have further ill you wish to heap upon us?" he asked in annoyance.

The prince shook his head with a feigned smirk. "Merely the grateful thanks for the help you offered the Lady Elena and I in Lake-town, and our promised reward." Tossing the rock in the air, it hit the ground and rolled to a stop a few feet away from Bard. "Never let it be said a Son of Dis does not keep his word."

Bard eyed the wrapped stone warily, as if expecting it to cause him harm somehow, then picked it up under the watchful eyes of the Company - who were also eyeing Fíli askance, some with anger as well as confusion. Unwrapping the cloth, he unfolded the paper, catching the coin before it hit the ground when it fell and dropping the rock. Reading the note, his brow furrowed in confusion before understanding dawned and anger flushed his face once more.

Sticking both paper and coin in his pocket with a sneer, he glowered up at the prince, who waited for his response impassively. "Consider our bargain kept, Son of Dis," he said mockingly. "I pray that we never have to make one like it again." Spinning on his heel, he strode back to his horse under the watchful eyes of both sides, quickly mounting it and returning to his army.

"As do I," Fíli muttered before stepping down from the lookout as they all turned to face the wrath of Thorin and the confused anger of their compatriots gathered around them.

"What dealings did you have with that man, Fíli?" Thorin asked dangerously. "And what did you give him?"

Fíli shrugged easily, although to anyone who knew him - and doubtless Thorin, were he still in his right mind - he was clearly nervous. "When we were in Lake-town, I gave my word that we would repay him for the help he gave us when he did not have to after you left for Erebor. The coin I gave him was one from Dale, the city I daresay he will attempt to rebuild as is his right." He forced a smirk. "Consider it a welcoming gift from one lord to another, and my debt to him repaid."

Thorin's lip curled. "You are a future king, and he not even a lord. He's a disgraced bargeman looking to steal his way to glory. You owed him nothing," he spat. "You needed a place to stay, and he offered one for a price. He extorted a promise of wealth from one too young to recognize the threat for what it is."

He had the nerve to look disappointed in his nephew as Fíli looked more and more heartbroken, and Kíli little better. "A foolish mistake, but an understandable one. You are fortunate that there is still much time before you will become king, my sister's son. You will learn to recognize such men for what they are. Greedy blackguards, and nothing more."

Fíli's face flushed with anger, overwhelming his hurt and pushing him to speak. "Regardless of how the promise was made, it _was_ made," he bit out. "I would not have it be known that a Son of Dis turns his back on his word, no matter how the promise was made."

"Do not be foolish, Fíli," Thorin warned him heavily. "You have yet to see much of the evil the world has to offer. Do not be naive to its dangers just because it appears fair, and do not consider yourself bound to such merely because your word was given."

Fíli shook his head angrily. "And what kind of king will I be if I go back on my sworn word, no matter to whom it is given?"

"A wise one," Thorin retorted.

"No," Fíli said softly, anger flooding out of him and leaving only hurt as he stared at Thorin as if he were a stranger. "I would be an oathbreaker."

Thorin flinched like he had hit him; hurt, confusion, and anger warring in his eyes. Anger won, his eyes growing darker as the madness took over him once more. "Be careful what you say, nephew," he said finally, voice slightly unsteady. "And be glad I have mercy. Any other king would have already struck down those who dared speak to him with such disrespect."

The other dwarves - even the ones firmly under the sway of gold sickness - gasped, and Fíli recoiled. "I thought I was speaking to my uncle, the dwarf who loved me like a father, and who I loved as such in return," he managed to say at last, voice thick and uneven. "I see now that I was wrong, and there is none such within Erebor. Forgive me for my failings in treating you as such. I shall not do so again." He bowed stiffly, then strode from the lookout, head held high and back straight.

"Fíli, wait!" Thorin called after him uncertainly, frown growing when the prince didn't respond. He turned back to the others, face torn.

Elena didn't even bother to say anything, just hurried from the lookout after him, casting a dirty look at Thorin as she went, carefully holding her injured arm to her chest.

Kíli stared at his uncle in a mixture of grief and horror, who stared back at him, face much the same. "You told us once that nothing would ever get in the way of your love for us," he whispered. "If your word means nothing to you... do we as well?"

"Kíli, no," Thorin started, holding a hand out to his nephew, only to drop it with a wounded look when Kíli drew back from it as if it were a threat.

"If this is what being king means, I want no part of it," Kíli spat. Not sparing his uncle another glance, he turned to help an unsteady Celia back into the mountain, his face hard but his touch gentle.

"Kíli, where are you going?" Dwalin called after them.

Kíli stopped and drew a deep breath. "To my brother's side. Where I belong."

Then, ignoring everything else they shouted at him, he walked straight into the mountain and through the hallways, not stopping until they were close to the side room they had met in earlier to discuss their plans. Fresh footprints disturbed the dust, and muted talking from inside the room indicated that Fíli and her sister were already inside.

Kíli stopped just in front of the door, the hand not helping her clenching into a fist. Finally letting the facade of calm fall away, he let out a shaky breath, his eyes starting to glisten as he stared off into the distance, swallowing hard and struggling to maintain his composure. "Do you think we did the right thing?" he said, his voice catching partway through.

Celia leaned into his arm, attempting to offer what comfort she could before looking up at him, though he had yet to return her gaze. "For who? The Company? Your uncle? Middle Earth? Us?"

He laughed unsteadily. "Yes. No. I don't know. All of them, I guess."

The poor prince looked so unhappy her heart ached just looking at him. Hoping to encourage him somehow, she unraveled her arm from his and let her hand fall until her knuckles brushed his, inviting and open, but letting him choose whether or not he wanted to accept it. Slowly at first, then more confidently, his hand slipped into hers, their fingers intertwining. He squeezed her hand, and she returned the gesture, wishing she could give him the strength he so desperately needed right then.

She waited until he looked down at her to smile, though the gesture would probably have been more effective if she didn't look like death warmed over. "F-for what it's worth, I th-think you did the r-right thing. For all of us."

He stared down at her, eyes searching hers for some sign of deceit. She gave him only open trust and honesty (and possibly a bit of affection, judging by the way his cheeks pinked ever so slightly. Or maybe a lot, because now her cheeks were heating up, which she was sure made her look only more attractive; because someone pale as death with flaming cheeks is obviously drop dead gorgeous. Yay her.)

A slow smile started to spread across his face, wiping away some of the lines stress had written there. While still not entirely soothed, he did appear more at peace than he did before. Lifting their entwined hands, he kissed hers with a reverence that made her heart skip a beat. "Thank you, Celia. Really. You have no idea how much I needed that."

"A-anytime," she squeaked. Then her eyes went wide, realizing what she had just said - and that she had _not_ stuttered because of the cold. "I mean, not anytime, you don't -" She stopped, mentally scrambling to reconnect the wires that had just been fried and were evidently vital for normal brain function. "I mean, I mean -" She stopped again, closing her eyes with a sigh and letting her shoulders slump. "I don't know what I mean anymore, but you get what I mean, right?" _Please say yes, please say yes._

Kíli was actually laughing a little. "Don't worry, Celia. I understand."

 _Yes!_

 _Wait. Hold on a minute._ She suddenly looked at him with suspicion. "Understand what? Did I just do one of those things where I gave away some major secret that I wasn't supposed to?"

His eyes twinkled with mischief. "I'd say yes, except I don't know that it was necessarily a secret at this point." He turned to the door and reached to open it, leaving her scrambling behind him, brain catching up with what he'd just said and trying to interpret it.

She'd come up with about five different explanations - none of which likely actually made sense - when she caught sight of Elena and Fíli by the fireplace, a small fire burning merrily.

Their siblings were noticeably less so. Fíli was hunched in on himself, hands clenching into fists on his knees and his entire posture tense. Elena had her good arm draped over him comfortingly, and was bent over him, whispering quietly. She looked up when they came in, though Fíli didn't, and her gaze went from their face to their hands with admirable quickness. She only spared a moment to raise a knowing eyebrow before she got to her feet with a groan, gesturing for Kíli to take her place.

He did so quickly, crouching in front of Fíli and resting his forehead against his brother's, whispering quietly in Khuzdul.

Elena made her way over to her sister as the brothers whispered back and forth in their private language. Eyeing the stack of blankets her sister was still wrapped up in, she frowned when she realized Celia was still shivering. "Why don't you come sit by the fire, Cel," she suggested in a low voice, tilting her head towards the blazing fire.

While that sounded like a really, really good idea - she was fairly certain she could no longer feel her toes - she also didn't want to intrude on the tender scene happening at the same spot. So she shook her head casually, responding in the same tone. "Nah, I'm f-fine. A bit ch-chilled, like I t-told you guys earlier, b-but I can wait." She jerked her own head at the two brothers.

Elena glanced over at them and frowned in realization, pursing her lips. "Well, I don't think they'd really be bothered by it," she muttered.

"No," Celia granted. "But l-let's give them a m-moment's peace. Heaven knows th-they need it."

"All right," her sister allowed reluctantly. "But only for a little bit. You need to stay as warm as possible."

Celia gave her sister a sassy look. "Then why d-don't you c-come over here try to help me stay w-warm? Do you n-not love me enough t-to want to hug me, even if it's j-just to help - to help me st-stay alive?" she asked dramatically - though still in a low voice - clasping a hand to her forehead.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Forgive me. I thought that since you and Kíli were practically glued at the hip, he was giving you all the love and warmth you needed."

Celia whacked her sister gently - mostly - on the arm in mock betrayal, sending a horrified glance at the brothers and sighing in relief that neither of them seemed to have noticed. "El, you c-can't just d-do that!" she hissed. "What ab-about girl c-code?"

Her twin shrugged unrepentantly. "It's overruled by sister code, sorry. Just be glad that they overlap in a lot of places. You've given me a lot of blackmail material over the years."

"As if you've n-never done anything," she retorted, sneezing suddenly and startling herself, making her sister laugh at the expression on her face. "Rude!" she pouted indignantly. "You're supposed to bless me!"

Elena just raised her eyebrow, before a moment of realization hit, and a slow, Grinch-like smile began to spread across her face. Celia felt her heart drop to her stomach. She had the sudden feeling that she'd just given her sister a power she should never have.

Looking between Kíli and Celia, and waggling her eyebrows suggestively, she grinned, eyes alight with triumph. Leaning in, she whispered, "Don't worry, Cel. You absolutely, one hundred percent, have my blessing."

It was while she was struggling to come up with a response - or even breathe, really - that Kíli stood up suddenly, his face torn. "Are you sure about this, nadad?"

Fíli got to his feet as well, his face pale but set. "As sure as I can be. I will not stay in Erebor with Thorin like this. I cannot."

Kíli nodded grimly. "I understand. Trust me, I understand all too well. But..." He looked down, shaking his head. "There is another matter I must consider. Please excuse me, I fear I need time alone to think."

Fíli nodded, looking concerned, but said nothing as his brother turned and left, touching Celia on the arm briefly before disappearing into the halls.

"What was that all about?" Elena asked him after the door had closed, brow furrowed in confusion. "You're not staying in Erebor? Like, you're leaving? Right now?"

Fíli sighed. "Not this very instant, no, but assuming you are banished when the Arkenstone is taken by Bilbo, I will be leaving with you. If you are not banished for whatever reason, then I will still be leaving. I can't stay here when I look into the eyes of the dwarf who raised me and see only madness - the very madness that he always cautioned us about when we were younger, and swore never to fall to." He scoffed bitterly. "You can see how well that turned out for him."

Celia blinked at him, puzzled - or maybe her brain had just frozen too, who knows at this point? "B-but, I thought you were planning on c-coming with us anyways, as you w-would be kind of implicated with the r-rest of us?"

"Tentatively, yes," Fíli agreed. "But I think I was still holding out hope that Thorin would get over this madness. That it would never come to the need for that." He sighed, eyes downcast. "I no longer hold that hope. He may still recover, but I do not think I will play a hand in that, and I will not continue to subject myself - nor those I care about, if possible - to one who no longer cares as he ought for those under his care and authority."

"Hold that thought," Elena interrupted. Taking her sister by the arm, she hauled her over to the fire and plopped her down in front of it, forcefully opening the blankets just enough so that heat from the fire could come in and warm the air inside and - hopefully - her sister. "Okay, sorry Fíli. I promise I'm paying attention, I just had to help my sister, whose _brain_ is apparently too _frozen_ to realize that there was a warm fire like three yards away from her. Anyways, I'm listening, go on."

Fíli chuckled, shaking his head slightly before sobering. "That's all there is to it, really. Kíli has his own issues that he's sorting through right now, but yes. He's also planning on leaving with you lot tomorrow morning." He paused. "It will be tomorrow morning, yes?"

Holding her hands out to the fire and enjoying its heat, Celia nodded, then grimaced, shrugging. "Actually, I have no idea. Probably? It depends on whether Bilbo is able to t-take the Arkenstone tonight or not. If he c-can't, then we obviously aren't leaving until he can get his hands on it and g-give it to Bard. Our hope is that he'll b-be able to get it t-tonight, before any of the fighting between armies starts. We're g-going to need all the manpower we can g-get when the orcs attack. I'm fairly c-certain we're going to be outnumbered as it is."

"And if it is tonight, then it'll most definitely have to be tomorrow," Elena finished. "There's no way Thorin won't notice the Arkenstone is gone. Our best bet is for him to be distracted until Bard shows up with it, so that he doesn't have the chance to do anything about it beforehand."

Celia pursed her lips. "Of course, our best b-bet also counts on Thranduil _not_ showing up to make things worse, such as aggravating Thorin to the point that he tries to kill someone he _r-really_ shouldn't, so you c-can almost guarantee he'll be there."

Elena snorted. "You aren't wrong. I think Thranduil ties with Thorin for the Most Inconvenient King Award."

"No, no, you've g-got it all wrong," Celia argued, scooting closer to the fire. "Thranduil obviously w-wins Most Inconvenient, but Thorin wins M-Most Dramatic King Award h-hands down, no contest."

"Agreed," Fíli chimed in. When he noticed the two sisters staring at him, not having expected him to join in, he shrugged. "What? You didn't have to grow up with him."

* * *

 **A/N: I know, I know, Thorin's still being a jerk... And what's worse, a dramatic jerk. :/ If it's any consolation, Bilbo is, in fact, scolding Thorin, and I may even allude/include it next chapter (or thereabouts) if desired by my readers. :) (And the Thorin/Laurel confrontation is coming up VERY soon. Better get your pitchforks ready...) Oh, and have fun trying to figure out what was on the note Fíli gave to Bard! ;)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Shetan20, Outofthisworldgal, Child of Dreams, Omgwhyyyyy, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing! :)**

 _ **Shetan20: Aww, thank you! I'm glad you liked it!**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Celia can be very dramatic at times, though she'd deny it (dramatically) if you told her so. :) Lol, yup. Laurel is 100% Mama Bear, and we will be seeing that side of her very soon. (Let's just say she's not very impressed with their condition when she finds them). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: D: (Chin up, brave heart! The Laurel/Thorin confrontation - with a bit of Thranduil thrown in, because he can't stand being left out - is coming very soon!) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **Omgwhyyyyy: Haha, oh, I've been there while babysitting. Petrified of the slightest sound. :P But I'm glad you liked it, though! And don't worry - Laurel will be showing up VERY soon, and likely VERY cross. Some arrow shooting may occur. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Lol, yup. Siblings always have the exact right timing. Help (and possible slap upside the head for Thorin) coming soon! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 **Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	69. Chapter 69 - A Thief in the Night

Bilbo crept silently over the still bodies, freezing in place whenever one of them moved. Now, of all times, was not the time for his hobbit upbringing and general sneaking skills to fail him. Of course, his hobbit upbringing also meant that he was cringing internally at the thought of what he was about to do.

For the greater good or not, he was still about to steal a valuable heirloom from dwarves he had grown to see as close friends.

But then again, on the other hand, it really was just a shiny rock. A shiny rock that, in the hands of Bard, might just be the key to forming an alliance that could save their lives, if Celia and Elena were to be believed.

Not that he didn't believe them. Oh, no.

He trusted them far too much for that, not to mention that even he - an untrained, simple hobbit with little to no experience in warfare - could see that war was on the horizon, and thanks to the King of Making Friends and Bad Decisions Thorin Oakenshield, they would likely be warring with both the the men of Lake-town and the Mirkwood elves. And, because apparently their luck wasn't already bad enough, there was now an army of orcs/goblins/whatever other nefarious creatures there were out there marching on them.

Typical.

He paused when he reached his goal, staring down at the sleeping dwarf king.

Thorin looked less insane when he slept. Younger, too, as if the cares of starting a war with your old allies and going mad were washed away in his slumbers. Perhaps he was dreaming of being surrounded by lots of shiny rocks that bowed down to his every whim, unlike his "treacherous" family and friends. It wasn't like he'd traveled across Arda with them, or anything.

Okay, so maybe Bilbo was a little cross with the dwarf. But only a little bit.

He huffed. He was getting off track. He just needed to find the stupid rock and get it out of here before anyone else woke up. So where would Thorin be keeping it?

So help him, if he found Thorin sleeping with it tucked into his arms, he was going to throw something. Preferably the Arkenstone, and preferably down one of the many holes that were in the mountain - none of which were guarded with handrails either, thank you very much.

Except it wasn't in Thorin's arms, thank the Valar, so that solved one problem.

And immediately opened up another. Where was the cursed thing? Thorin would obviously want to keep it close, given his lack of trust of his comrades. His bag, perhaps? A quick glance at Thorin's feet showed the bag laying close by. Unwilling to disturb Thorin's privacy more than he had to, he squeezed the outside of the bag, hoping to be able to determine if the Arkenstone was inside or not by feel.

Unfortunately, it was too cluttered for him to be certain, and so, sending a mental apology Thorin's way - though he soothed the guilt with reminders of his recent behavior - he quickly rifled through the contents until he could determine it wasn't in there, taking care not to disturb them overmuch.

He grimaced, glancing over the room to make sure its occupants were still asleep. Aside from Bombur, who was supposedly standing guard on the lookout, he was the only one awake. Which was good, considering that if someone were to see him now, standing over the king in a fairly threatening position, he would be in a great deal of trouble.

He snorted wryly. As if he wouldn't be anyways. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, as his mother always used to say. Granted, his father would always get this resigned look whenever she did, but that was beside the point.

So, if it wasn't in his arms, and it wasn't in his bag, that meant it was likely hidden somewhere on his person.

Lovely.

He crouched over the sleeping king and stretched out a hand before hesitating. If Thorin woke up now, and saw Bilbo standing over him, it was all over. Perhaps he should put on the ring...? It had helped a great deal when he was hiding from the guards in Mirkwood, and again with Smaug - although it had also fallen off somehow, despite it fitting perfectly fine when he first found it. Still, it could hardly hurt to be invisible when committing treachery of the worst sort. Or at least, what would be considered as such.

He pulled the ring out of his pocket and weighed it in his hand in consideration, running a finger over its flawless gold shine. The light from their low fire reflected off of it, making it seem to wink at him as he studied it.

 _What could it hurt?_ it seemed to whisper. _It will only help. Oakenshield has the Arkenstone. You need the Arkenstone. I can help. Put me on. Just this once._

"Yes," he murmured, slipping the ring onto his finger almost automatically. At once, the world slipped back into the dark grays and black he had grown used to with repeated uses. "Just this once."

Now for the hard part.

Calling upon all the skills he'd acquired over the years, he reached out once more and carefully pulled back Thorin's coat, grateful that he was sleeping on his back for once. Lightly running his fingers along the inside, he searched for any hard lumps that might grant him success. Holding his breath when he found one just over Thorin's heart - and wasn't that symbolic? - he carefully felt around until he came across the pocket opening, and slid his fingers inside, his heart stilling in his chest when they came across something hard and cold.

Reaching until he could fit his fingers around it, he started to pull it out, freezing when Thorin shifted in his sleep, and continuing once it seemed he had settled. He sucked in a low breath when he had it out in the open, the Arkenstone shining brightly even in the dim tones of the spirit world, or wherever else it was he went when he put on the ring.

For a moment, he wavered. Did the Arkenstone really have to go to Bard? Perhaps he could keep it, find some other use for it. After all, how did he know that Bard himself wouldn't misuse it? Keep it for his own designs?

He shook his head, appalled at himself. What use could he possibly have for a rock? It was pretty, certainly, but not much more than that. And he knew Bard was a good man. Certainly better than the Master ever was - some of the tales Elena had told made his blood boil and given him most un-hobbit-like desires, although he'd likely lost the title of a proper gentlehobbit long ago.

The thought of his adopted nieces made him pause and look over to where he knew they were sleeping. Celia was buried under several extra blankets, and as close to the fire as they could manage, and still she shivered. Elena was curled up against her on one side, her blanket shared with her sister to help add warmth, and Kíli lay on the other, far closer than propriety would normally allow - if he still cared about such a thing under the circumstances. Aside from the fact that he trusted the lad, and knew he would behave with naught but honor, Celia needed all the heat she could get until she could be treated by the elves.

He glanced down, ashamed that his thoughts had strayed from seeking help for his nieces to desiring to keep the Arkenstone for himself, however briefly. He glared down at the rock.

"I've half a mind to just pitch you down the nearest crevice," he growled, stayed from acting on the thought only by the knowledge that it could help Elena and Celia. Slipping it - and the ring, though not without some reluctance - into his pocket, he crossed to his bedspread and grabbed his blanket, spreading it out over Celia in hope that the extra warmth could aid her where he could not.

A hand caught his wrist before he could leave, and he looked up to see Kíli - looking only half-awake - watching him. "You found it, then?" the dark-haired prince whispered.

He nodded once, turning to go when the brunet released him before pausing and turning back. "Kíli... In case this all goes wrong... you'll look after them?"

"With my life, if it comes to it," the prince swore.

Bilbo smiled humorlessly. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Kíli didn't smile. "May Mahal be with you, Bilbo Baggins."

Bilbo inclined his head in silent thanks. "And with you, Kíli."

Taking one last look at the sleeping girls, he stepped carefully around the others in the room and vanished, silent as a mouse. It was but the work of a few moments to convince Bombur to let him take the watch in his place, claiming insomnia, and the good-natured cook left for the guardroom. When Bilbo checked on him five minutes later, he was already snoring.

Going back to the lookout, Bilbo gave one last silent prayer for strength, threw the rope over the side, and clambered down the wall.

He had a family to save.

xXx

"Bother and confusticate that wizard!" Bilbo grumbled to himself as he ran towards the ruins of Dale where the opposing armies had set up camp. "'Go on an adventure', he said; 'it'll be fun', he said. But where is he now that I need him? Nowhere, that's where! And he wonders why no hobbits ever go on adventures! Blasted inconvenient things that they are."

He slowed to a stop when he got close enough to the camp to make out the outlines of the figures running here and there, delivering missives and sharpening swords and numbering their arrows.

He swallowed hard, fingering the rock in his pocket. If things went wrong tonight, or even if they went well, and Thorin refused to accept it in trade, they would likely be used against the Company the next morn. He straightened his back, stiffening his resolve along with it. Beggars could not be choosers, as his mother always used to say, and he might as well make the best of a bad situation.

Well, he doubted the situation could get any worse - _until Thorin finds out_ , his treacherous mind whispered to him, and he dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. It was no use borrowing trouble when he had plenty of it as it was. And he was making the best of it, hopefully for everyone involved.

Though, come to think of it, he'd best put on the ring before he got too close and got spied by a watchful elf. He'd rather not return to Erebor with a new hole in his coat, even if he did have a new shiny one beneath it to protect him, courtesy of one grumpy dwarf king. He appreciated the gesture, really he did. But he'd rather it not be put to use, if he could avoid it.

Pulling the ring out of his pocket, he twisted it back and for in his hands for a moment, brow furrowed. It was a useful trinket, it really was. He'd even go so far as to say that it had saved his life - and possibly that of a few others in the Company - since he'd got it.

But something about it just seemed... off. Wrong, maybe, if something like a magic ring could be wrong. He stared at it for a moment, weighing it carefully before shaking his head. He was just being ridiculous. He was just tired, hungry, and perhaps a bit cross after the long week he'd had.

Slipping the ring onto his finger, he waited for his vision to adjust to the shadowy tones everything took on before continuing on to Dale, taking care not to step on any rocks that might break loose and alert the guards to his presence. A new path had been forged by the armies to Dale, and he was able to follow it easily enough most of way to Dale, grateful for the light of the moon to guide him and easily dodging around the guards set by the elven camp.

Unfortunately, however, it disappeared behind dark clouds a short distance to Dale, and he soon found himself off of the path and stumbling over uneven ground towards a wide stream that separated him from the camp. He came to a stop, looking down at the rushing waters with a sigh. He could not possibly hope to cross here without getting swept away, or at the very least splashing all the way across, meaning he would surely get caught.

Deciding to look for other options, he crept along the bank of the stream until he found a possible route. There was a small bend towards the camp a few yards further down, where the water was shallower, but broader, and it was there that he determined to cross. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the frigid water, shivering and repressing the urge to leap right back out of it.

If it had been daylight, perhaps he could have made it without issue, but fording it in the dark was not easy, and the cold temperatures of the water quickly numbed his poor feet. Still, he soldiered on, and was nearly across when he stumbled across an unsteady rock and lost his footing, falling into the stream with a splash. He quickly resurfaced, making the rest of the way to the far bank without further issue, but the damage had been done.

Two elves with bright lanterns and watchful eyes came running up, searching for the cause of the noise, and, ring or no ring, he quickly scrambled behind a large rock, shivering hard and soaking wet.

"That was no fish!" one of the elves cried. "There is a spy about! Hide your lights, it will help him more than us if it is that strange servant of the dwarves."

Servant?

Bilbo sputtered in silent indignation. He was a burglar, thank you very much, and a respectable one at that. Slipping off his ring, he stuck it in his pocket and strode, with as much dignity as a soaked, shivering hobbit is able, forth from behind the rock, commanding the attention of the elves.

"Let's have a light! I am here if you want me," he cried, not resisting as they gathered around him, taking hold of his arms. "I shan't resist, and further, shall go all the more eagerly if there is a promise of a warm fire ahead."

"Who are you?" the first elf demanded, laying a hand on his sword, although he did not draw it. "Are you the companion of the dwarves? What are you doing? How did you get so far past our sentinels?"

Bilbo held his head high, although the effect was perhaps, somewhat lost when he sneezed twice. "I am Mister Bilbo Baggins," he answered proudly. "Companion of Thorin Oakenshield and his friend, though he may not remember it ere tomorrow. I know your king well by sight, though he knows me by tale alone. But my journey here is not for him alone. Bard knows me well enough, and it is him I wish to see."

The elf leader raised his eyebrows. "Indeed!" he said, looking down his nose at him. "And what business might you have to do with him?"

"Whatever business I have, it is to do with him, my good elves," he answered, rubbing his arms in an attempt to return some warmth to his numb limbs. "But if you, like myself, I should pray, seek to avoid needless war, then you will take me along to a fire where I can, perhaps, thaw out a little, and then let me speak to your leaders, as soon as can be. I have little time to spare, and less every minute."

Keeping a watchful eye on Bilbo, the elves withdrew to confer among themselves before evidently deciding that the hobbit provided as little a threat as he himself assumed he did. He had no intentions of ill will, after all, and he could hardly hope to attack a fully trained elf with his little sword even if he wished to.

And so that was how he found himself, almost two hours after leaving the Gate, sitting beside a warm fire in front of one of their tents and moodily munching on some lembas bread. While the guards had yet to decide whether or not they could trust him enough to take him to their king, they had taken pity on the poor hobbit and given him a dry blanket and some food to eat when they heard his stomach growling.

But while his stomach was now happy, he was not. Time was ever passing, and he was no closer to Bard than he had been when he'd first arrived - although a good bit drier, he'd admit. And so, reluctantly leaving the warm fire, he'd slipped the ring back onto his finger and crept away until he found the large command tent, and Bard and Gandalf - and wasn't that a surprise! - speaking in low tones just outside.

"Do you agree with this?" Gandalf demanded, clutching his staff with both hands. "Is gold so important to you that you would buy it with the blood of free folk like yourself?"

"It will not come to that," Bard said, though doubt was in his tone. "This is a fight that they cannot win. It would be suicide for a group so small as they to attack two armies such as ours." He fixed the wizard with a hard look. "And do not mistake me for being gold mad, wizard. Lake-town was destroyed when the dragon attacked, and while Thranduil has been kind enough to offer us some food and supplies, I do not believe that his generosity will - nor can - extend so far as to invite my people to stay in his forest with him - nor do I believe that we could accept."

He sighed. "Thorin Oakenshield promised gold to my people in exchange for our aid in reaching the mountain. We delivered on our promise. He did not, and instead delivered only the wrath of a dragon. I have no desire to start a war with dwarves who were once our neighbors and allies. But the gold he promised could be used to rebuild our homes and our lives. Further, Thranduil has grievances of his own against the dwarves. Even should we not interfere, I fear that war would still come, if just from the stubbornness of elves and dwarves."

Gandalf inclined his head in recognition, considering for a moment before responding while Bilbo watched silently from the shadows. "Even should a miracle happen, and Thorin not start a war, there is yet another marching on our doorsteps. You must set aside your petty grievances with the dwarves. War with a far worse enemy is already coming! The cesspits of Dol Guldur has been emptied. We are all of us in grave danger, both inside the mountain and out."

Bard drew back, staring at the wizard in alarm. "What are you talking about?"

Gandalf looked like he was seriously considering hitting him with his staff. "War. War with the forces of one who would see all free folk fall before him."

The tent opening parted, and Thranduil, splendid in his armor and commanding air, stepped forth, eyeing the wizard with a look of dismissive amusement. "I see you know nothing of wizards," he told the alarmed bowman. "They are like winter thunder on a wild wind rolling in from a distance, breaking hard in alarm. But sometimes a storm is just a storm."

"Not this time," Gandalf said grimly. "Armies of orcs are on the move. And these are fighters! They have been bred for war. Our enemy has summoned his full strength."

"And why show his full hand now?" Thranduil asked almost lazily, not bothering to even look at the wizard.

"Because we forced him!" Gandalf said angrily. "We forced him when the company of Thorin Oakenshield set out to reclaim their homeland. The dwarves were never meant to reach Erebor; Azog the Defiler was sent to kill them. His master seeks control of the mountain. Not just for the treasure within, but for where it lies, its strategic position."

He led the other two away from the tents until they could make out the shape of the lonely mountain in the distance, its peak blocking out the light from the stars behind it. Behind them, Bilbo crept along, silent as a mouse.

"This is the gateway to reclaiming the lands of Angmar in the north," Gandalf warned them in a heavy tone. "If that fell kingdom should rise again, Rivendell, Lothlorien, the Shire, even Gondor itself will fall!"

Thranduil sighed. "These orc armies you speak of, Mithrandir - where are they?" He cast his gaze about him, pretending to search. "I see no sign of them, my spies have given no warning of them, and yet you would have us unite with the dwarves against a common enemy. An enemy that has yet to reveal itself." He raised a silken eyebrow. "And you believe that Oakenshield, in his current madness, would willing strike an alliance with one he holds in such contempt as myself?"

Sensing his moment had arrived, Bilbo stepped forward, tugging off the ring and dropping it in his pocket. "Not willingly, perhaps, but I might have a way to convince him to stand by you until such time as he returns to himself."

The other three whipped around to face him, Thranduil and Bard's hands falling to their weapons while Gandalf looked both surprised and delighted. "Bilbo Baggins!"

Wrinkling his nose and screwing up his courage, he stepped closer to them and further into the light. "The dwarves won't agree to help you in any fight right now. Nor will they cease their hostilities to either of you. You have superior forces. That won't stop them. You think the dwarves will surrender - They won't. They will fight to the death to defend their own."

"And what, pray tell, would you have me do, Master Hobbit?" Bard asked wearily, relaxing his hold on his weapon.

Bilbo fidgeted, glancing about awkwardly at all the eyes and ears nearby. "I fear that that is a matter for private discussion, Master Bowman, and one that we all might just benefit from listening to." He cast a knowing glance at the wizard. "But Gandalf is right, and time is quickly passing, both for myself, and all of us. We must act quickly. Will you hear me, or no?"

He fought the urge to squirm like a fauntling under the sudden piercing gazes of the three leaders, and only relaxed when Thranduil, eyes narrowed, swept forward and led the way back to the command tent, striding into the well furnished interior with great majesty and demanding that all present leave. They did so hastily, bar a solitary figure hidden in the shadows who sat hunched over a sheaf of papers in the corner.

"Your tale is safe here," Thranduil informed Bilbo imperiously when he hesitated, casting a nervous glance at the figure. "It will not go beyond these walls."

When Gandalf nodded, Bilbo took a deep breath and started his tale. "Really, you know, things are impossible. Personally, I am tired of the whole affair. I won't deny that there are many times where I wish I was back in the West in my own home, where folk are more reasonable." He sighed. "But that is not what the Valar willed, and thus, here I am. I have sworn, for better or for ill, to aid in this quest and my companions, and this, I fear, is the only way to do so at this point."

Wringing his fingers, he tried to order his thoughts, which were scattered about his head in a most disgraceful way. "This would be easier, you know, if I did not have my nieces to look out for, which is why I am here for two reasons."

"And those would be?" Thranduil asked impatiently.

Bilbo swallowed hard. It was now or never. "First, I am here to ask for sanctuary and healing for my nieces. They have both been afflicted with a grievous wound beyond what our healer can do, and their only chance for healing might be with you."

Neither of them noticed the figure stiffening in the corner, Thranduil's sharp gaze narrowing in on the hobbit in sudden realization. "If I am not mistaken, you are the halfling who crept my halls unseen and stole the keys to my dungeons from under the nose of my guards."

Bilbo shifted uncomfortably before settling himself, calling upon all the dignity the head of the Baggins could. "And if I am not mistaken, you are the elf who locked up my niece when she was starving and weak, and had committed no crime save that of being lost."

His eyes widened at his own impudence, but Thranduil did not seem offended. If anything, the elven king looked amused as he seated himself in his chair, reclining gracefully back in it. "There is no further doubt in my mind. Though you are no relation by blood, I see much of the Lady Elena in you." Shifting moods quickly once more, he leaned forward in his chair, eyes narrowed.  
"But you speak of a wound. Lady Elena's wound was treated, nor was it beyond what even dwarf healers could treat."

Bilbo bobbed his head. "That's certainly correct. But there was a slight incident involving a dragon, and then -" he stopped, wary eyes falling on the shadowy figure, who had given up all pretense of reading and sat silently watching them, tense and still. "Gandalf," he said slowly, not taking his eyes off of them. "How safe are these walls? What I speak of could bring danger - more so than already exists - upon their heads if word gets out."

"I know of what you speak, Master Hobbit," the figure said, speaking for the first time in a low, feminine tone. "You are safe enough here, but I would caution against uttering such words when you do not have to. All here know what you refer to, and I would leave it at that."

"And begging your pardon, lady," Bilbo said warily, offering a slight bow of his head in deference as the woman stepped forward into the light of the fire, revealing herself to be an woman in noble garb, armor adorning her chest and arms. "But I don't know if you can be trusted or not, and I would rather not risk my nieces unless I had to. You understand, I'm sure."

"Yes," the woman sighed, her voice thick. "I know the sacrifices secrecy requires all too well." Throwing back her hood, she shook her golden hair free, revealing pointed ears and a face that he knew all too well, memories of a sleepless night by a fire with Elena, sketchbook in hand, popping into his head.

Bilbo stumbled back a step, caught only from falling by Gandalf's timely hand. "I - I don't understand," he stammered. "You look like -"

The woman nodded, a faint smile touching her lips. "The woman who raised Elena and Celia, yes. I am their mother. Not by blood, but time itself has borne witness that I am their mother in every way that matters."

"But, but, but -" Bilbo blinked, feeling very lost. "Their mother was human. You're... not."

"No," she agreed. "But neither are Elena and Celia, as I understand it. But they used to be. Tell me, Mister Baggins. Is it so hard to believe that what happened to two young girls also happened to me?"

"I'm sorry, could someone please explain to me what's going on?" Bard interrupted, looking between the other four occupants of the room in confusion. "What... what are you talking about?"

The woman looked over at him apologetically. "Forgive me, Master Bard. This is a strange affair, and explanations will take longer than I believe Mister Baggins has." She turned back to Bilbo, fixing her piercing blue eyes on him. "Suffice it to say that Elena and Celia will be more than safe with us, and I will ensure that they receive all the care and healing that they need, though I do ask that you inform me what has done them such ill before you leave." She held up a hand when he started to speak. "Now is not the time, however, and it grows ever shorter. You mentioned two reasons. One was to ask for sanctuary. It is granted. What is the other?"

Bilbo searched her eyes, and found only honesty. Coming to a decision, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Arkenstone, wrapped loosely in some rags. "I came... to give you this," he said, setting it on the table in the middle of the room and unwrapping it, a bright light emanating forth and filling the room.

Thranduil stood from his chair in shock, glancing over at the woman who smirked. "Told you," she muttered in a quiet voice, Bilbo's sharp ears picking up the words. "I win the wager."

"Because you cheated," Thranduil retorted in the same tone before raising his voice. "The heart of the mountain! The King's Jewel."

"And worth a king's ransom," Bard murmured in awe, coming closer to study it before turning to Bilbo. "How is this yours to give?"

Bilbo shrugged uneasily. "I took it as my fourteenth share of the treasure." He narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of Gandalf smiling, now suspicious of the wizard once more before his attention was drawn elsewhere.

"Why would you do this?" Bard asked him, dark eyes fixing him in place. "You owe us no loyalty."

"I'm not doing it for you," Bilbo told him bluntly. "I know that dwarves can be obstinate and pigheaded and difficult, suspicious and secretive... with the worst manners you can possibly imagine, but they also brave and kind and loyal to a fault. I've grown very fond of them, and I would save them if I can. Thorin values this stone above all else. In exchange for its return, I believe he will give you what you are owed."

He hesitated. "War is coming, whether we will or no. And I... would rather that it be on only one front, instead of two. Because maybe, just maybe, if we all work together, we can avoid a massacre."

* * *

 **A/N: This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be. Wow. Hope you liked it! We finally made some more plot progress!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Child of Dreams, Outofthisworldgal, frogger94, Caitriona McKinley, and Omgwhyyyyy for reviewing!**

 ** _Outofthisworldgal:_ _It's too soon to tell, unfortunately. However... you may be seeing the results of that/his nephews trying to give him another wake up call VERY soon. TBH, when I got your review, it made me laugh because I had just been thinking of what it would look like if Thorin was cuddling the Arkenstone like a teddy bear. ;D I was nice to Bilbo, though, and let him find it without waking up Thorin. However, there is something else far more sinister at play, as can be seen, and may cause more trouble soon... Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :D_ _They could have taken the ring, it's true, but what could they have done with it? As dwarves, they're more likely to be corrupted by it than a hobbit - particularly Bilbo Baggins. However, they will be seeking to take care of the ring once this whole mess with BoFA is done. Bilbo may just be teaming up with Laurel to protect the girls, lol. Time will tell... Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _Caitriona McKinley: Hahahaha, if anything's left after Laurel gets through with him... Believe you me, she's not going to be happy when she finds out that the girls got injured and he didn't notice or care. (arrows are likely to be involved). Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)_**

 ** _omgwhyyyyy: Aww, thank you! I had an unexpected "adventure" come up last night, which meant that I didn't get home until very late. Which meant that I couldn't get started on my chapter until late, which would have made work today very difficult, lol, and probably a rushed chapter. :P Your review was very nice and encouraging to read, so thanks for writing it and being so understanding! I hope you liked the new chapter! :D_**

 _ **Child of Dreams: Honestly, your review made me laugh so hard when I got it. "Balrog-Bait." I love it! (I'm totally going to use that from now on) However, you may have to get in line for those desiring to kill Thorin. At last count it included Azog, Bilbo, Laurel, and (when she finds out) Dís. Thanks for a hilarious review, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **frogger94: There is a lot of potential for hilariousness with Elrond's sons and Fíli and Kíli. You just may be seeing more of them soon. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**


	70. Chapter 70 - A Promise Made

~~ Celia ~~

Celia awoke early the next morning to a gentle touch on her shoulder. Blearily opening her eyes, she found Kíli bending over her, already wide awake. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, trying to hide deeper in her cocoon of blankets, warmer than she'd felt since the night before.

"I forgot you were a morning person," she grumbled, reluctantly sitting up and pulling the blankets tighter around her. "I actually didn't have any dreams for once. Please tell me you have a good reason for waking me up - and I do mean good. It's barely even light out."

Kíli grimaced. "Define good," he whispered, glancing around at their sleeping companions. "Today's the day. Bilbo went out last night."

"He did?" Celia sat up straighter, all thoughts of returning to sleep forgotten.

Kíli nodded somberly. "The mission seemed to be a success; he came back in good enough spirits, if somewhat damp."

Celia sucked in a breath, casting a glance over at the still-sleeping Thorin. "So what happens when he wakes up and checks for the Arkenstone?"

Kíli grimaced again. "Distracting him until Thranduil shows up seems to be our best bet. Although he'll hopefully be distracted enough by the presence of Bard and Thranduil's armies practically on our doorstep. Only time will tell."

Celia nodded slowly, trying to process it all. "Okay. So... this is it, then." She forced a shaky smile on her face and looked up at him. "You ready?"

He snorted. "Not in the slightest. That's not the whole reason I woke you up, though."

She peered up at him suspiciously, trying to figure out if he had more bad news to tell. "What's the other reason, then?"

He waved a hand in the air. "More like two reasons... that are sort of connected, so maybe they're one reason after all, but I'm counting it as two. Anyways, the first reason is that I wanted to show you something, especially if it might be our last chance for a good while."

"Well, that's not ominous at all," she grumbled, accepting his hand up anyway. Unfortunately, the movement dislodged the cozy cocoon she'd built around herself, and even the slight draft from her movement underneath the blankets was enough to send goosebumps all along her skin. Shivering, she rubbed at her arms, trying to warm up as best as she could without waking up the others.

Kíli frowned, grabbing his blankets off the floor and offering them to her.

She took them gratefully, wrapping them around herself in addition to the others, stopping when she realized that she already had more than normal - was that Bilbo's blanket? She spotted the hobbit curled up on the floor, his coat and one blanket wrapped up around himself, missing his thickest blanket and shivering slightly in the cool winter morning. Making a mental note to thank the hobbit later, she - with only the slightest bit of reluctance - pulled off his blanket from her pile and draped it over him, smiling when he curled up even tighter under it, his shivers easing.

Taking one last glance at her sister to make sure she was all right - she was, she was safely nestled within her blankets so deep that only the tip of her head was visible - she set off after Kíli, tugging her own blankets tighter around her and resolutely pretending that she didn't notice that Kíli's blanket smelled like him.

Or that she felt warmer with his blankets surrounding her than she had with anything else so far.

"Are you feeling better, Celia?" Kíli asked once they were outside the guardroom and leading their way through the halls with a torch in hand. "You were pale when you woke up, but you seem to have a lot of your coloring back now."

She laughed awkwardly. "Fine. Yep. Still cold, you know, but otherwise fine."

He looked back at her, an affectionate grin lighting up his face. "I mean, the cold was what I was asking about, but it's good to know that you're otherwise all right."

Her cheeks colored. Mentally trying to pull herself together, she hurried to keep pace with Kíli, although he'd already been going slow for her. "So... where did you say we were going?" she asked, trying to distract him.

He smirked, glancing sideways at her. "I didn't."

She sniffed, sticking her nose up in the air haughtily. "Fine. Be that way, then."

"You know, I rather think I will," he retorted easily.

She snorted. "Nothing new with you being difficult then, I see." Pausing as Kíli led them down a larger hallway she vaguely recognized, she frowned curiously up at the architecture, trying to remember when she'd last come along this way. "Hold on. Haven't we come this way before?"

A slow smile spread across his face. "Well, I'm glad to see you remember something of that night, even if it's just the hallways."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "What night? In case you don't recall, we spent several nights going around Erebor and wandering through the halls. And a lot of them were in the dark - much like right now, might I add," she reminded him, gesturing at the torch with only a hint of genuine grumpiness.

"Aww, I forgot how much of a night owl you were," Kíli cooed. "And how grumpy you could be in the mornings when you weren't distracted by other things."

"I am _not_ grumpy in the mornings," Celia protested grumpily, with a grumpy expression.

Kíli very deliberately didn't answer, whistling innocently as he turned back to the path in front of them.

Forcing herself to maintain a neutral expression, Celia turned to him. "Kíli, why didn't you agree with me?" she asked innocently, peering up at him with wide eyes. "Kíli, are you trying to say something?"

"OH, LOOK, WE'RE ALMOST THERE," Kíli exclaimed suddenly, turning abruptly down another hallway and almost immediately stopping short.

Celia followed after him, bumping into his back when he stopped abruptly. "What'd you do that for?" she complained, rubbing her sore nose. She peered around him, then nodded in realization at the large pile of rubble that blocked their path. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," she mumbled, recalling the night Kíli had led her to the Starlight Room and they had danced under the stars. Her cheeks warmed at the memory, but she kept behind Kíli as he turned around, and so he - hopefully - didn't notice.

"Oh, so you remember that now?" Kíli teased, turning them down a detour.

She hummed noncommitally. "I remember something about you forgetting to get the musicians here in time," she commented casually.

He snorted. "I already apologized for that."

"I shan't make you apologize for it more than once," she assured him with a grin. "Unless I find out that you woke me up before dawn just to apologize again. If that's the case, I'm never letting you forget it."

"No comment," he muttered dryly.

She snickered, "accidentally" bumping his arm with hers and pretending not to notice when he turned to her. "What're you looking at me for? I didn't say anything," she said innocently.

He grinned crookedly. "I can't just look at you for no reason?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, fighting a blush. If she knew Kíli - and she was pretty sure she did after a trek across Middle Earth with him - he was up to something. "Not for no reason," she responded after a pause that lasted just a bit too long. "What's the point in that?"

He shrugged easily. "Somewhere to look, I guess." He smirked, and she cursed her heart for speeding up at the undefinable difference in the expression. "Of course, that's not why I was looking, I had an actual reason, thank you very much." He paused. "However, I am aware that a lot of people aren't comfortable with being watched, so by all means, let me know and I'll stop."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't immediately respond. Normally, it was true, she wasn't a huge fan of people watching her. However, in this context, Kíli obviously had some reason for watching her - likely teasing - and she trusted him completely.

"As long as it's a good reason," she said at last. "I trust you."

"Oh, it was definitely a good reason," Kíli assured her, grin wide and bright as they turned one last corner into the hallway she recognized as being just outside the Starlight Room. "In fact, it's almost the same reason I decided to bring you out here."

"Oh, and what's that?" she challenged him as they approached the large ornate doors.

Pulling back the large gold handles and opening the doors, Kíli flashed her one last grin and disappeared inside, voice floating back to her from inside the room. "My appreciation of natural beauty."

Celia just stood there for a minute, completely confused. "What?" Her brow furrowed. "I don't get it. The Starlight Room is pretty, but you guys carved it to look like this. What do you -" Raising her voice, she called, "Kíli, what do you me-"

She stopped, eyes going wide and face turning scarlet as the meaning suddenly - finally - sank in.

"Oh. _OH_."

That had to be the smoothest line she'd ever heard, and she didn't even realize it at first.

Oblivious, thy name is Celia.

It was easily another minute before she was able to scrape her jaw off the floor and reboot her brain, and another two at least before she was able to calm herself to something resembling normalcy. Laughing softly to herself, she couldn't deny the way her heart was fluttering as she managed to walk like a normal person into the ballroom.

Kíli wasn't in there, however; the torch he'd brought with him left in the sconce on the wall, and the first hints of daylight reflecting through the glass wall on the far side and lighting up the wall.

"Kíli?" she called curiously, stepping lightly in the room that felt... different, for lack of a better word, in the early morning light. "Kíli, are you in here?"

"I'm out on the balcony," he called back after a moment.

Tucking her blankets a little closer in preparation for the wind when she got outside - and taking a moment to appreciate the sense of safety Kíli's scent brought, although she'd deny it to her grave - she stepped through the door Kíli left open and out onto the balcony.

He was leaning on the ledge with his arms folded against it, looking out at the sunrise. He didn't turn to look at her when she joined him, although a small smile did grace his lips. "Took you long enough," he murmured.

"Shut up," she retorted without heat, blushing again. "So what did you want to show me again?" she asked; hoping to divert his attention but forgetting that the two questions were connected.

"I wanted to show you the sunrise for one," he informed her, throwing one hand out towards the rising sun. "I've seen sunrises hundreds of times before, but there's something different about watching them from a mountain. _Our_ mountain," he corrected himself.

Being a sane person who tended to _not_ get up until after the sun had risen, Celia had naturally not seen many sunrises in person before. That being said, she could still appreciate it, and thus instinctively gasped when she saw it.

Most of the sky was still the dark blue of night, with the odd star twinkling here and there. However, it faded to a light purple color closer to the horizon, before shifting into pink, red, and a gorgeous mix of orange and yellow where the sun was peeking over the horizon; cracks in the cloud that let through the dark blue of the sky above only serving to highlight the colors more.

"It's so pretty," she breathed, hardly even noticing her breath fogging in the cold air as she leaned over the ledge next to Kíli. "And look - you can see the sunrise reflecting off the lake, it's so gorgeous!" Impulsively, she reached over and hugged Kíli. "Thank you for showing me this!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen a sunrise this pretty before. You were right, it does look so much different from a mountain!"

He willingly hugged her back after a moment's surprise. "You're welcome." A teasing note entered his voice. "Dare I ask how many sunrises you've seen before?"

Not willing to completely release him just yet, she whacked him gently on the arm with a snicker before pulling back and resting her head on his shoulder, looking out at the sunrise once more. "Jerk. I've seen lots of them. Elena and I've gone camping before, we've had to get up with the sun dozens of times on this trip, and I've gone on enough early morning trips with my mom that getting up with or before the sunrise isn't anything too new to me."

She paused to consider her next words carefully. "However, I will say that this is one of the first times I'm willing to truly appreciate it... And I'm glad that you're here with me." She chuckled suddenly. "To make me appreciate it, if need be."

"I feel much the same." Kíli's sober tone surprised her, and she glanced up at the prince to see him staring at the remnants of Lake-town in the distance, at the armies of Bard and Thranduil, ready to make war if Thorin didn't make amends. He glanced down at her. "I'm glad that you're here with me," he explained at her puzzled look. "Even if it means that you're in as much trouble as the rest of us."

"Well... where else would I be?" she frowned.

"Exactly."

Kíli didn't say anything else after that, and she let him be, knowing by the look on his face that he was working something through in his head. Instead, she watched the sun slowly rise, knowing that it would likely be the last peaceful one she would have for a very long while.

Eventually he turned to her, one hand nervously fingering something in his pocket. Stepping back to give him space, she peered up at him. "Is everything all right, Kíli?" He hesitated, and she amended her statement. "As all right as it can be, given everything that's supposed to happen?"

He shrugged, shifting from one foot back to the other.

Starting to grow concerned, she rephrased her question. "Are _you_ all right, Kíli?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again... and hesitated. At last he seemed to come to a decision and nodded, sighing slowly. "I was just thinking, sorry. I just - have you..." His cheeks went faintly pink, and she frowned at him curiously. "Have you ever heard of a promise stone?"

"A... promise stone?" she repeated uncertainly. At his nod, she bit her lip in thought before at last shaking her head. "I don't... think... so? I mean, it sounds vaguely familiar, so maybe, but I can't remember anything about it, so... I guess... not? Why do you ask?"

He sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a dark stone with dwarfish runes carved into it. "They're - obviously - stones with runes carved into them that evoke or give a promise to the receiver. The one I have here is one of the more common examples, typically given to those off to war or..." He tilted his head in faint amusement, "Perilous adventures from which they might not return. This was given to me by my mother shortly before we left Ered Luin."

Celia's eyes went wide with sudden realization. This was the stone Kíli had showed to Tauriel in the movies. "Can I see it?" she asked, before realizing that she might've crossed a line. "Unless this is something special in dwarven culture that I haven't learned yet. I don't want to accidentally disrespect you or your mother, or something."

Kíli laughed, easily offering the stone out to her. "No, you're fine. The main significance it holds is sentimental. It's meant to be a reminder of a promise made."

Celia took the stone carefully, the tips of her fingers tingling when they brushed across Kíli's palm as she grasped the stone. Flipping it over in her hand, she admired the cool sheen, tracing over the runes gently. "What do they say?" she asked quietly.

Kíli smiled fondly, his eyes distant and lost in memory. " _Innikh dê_. It means 'Return to Me.' Obviously, she gave it to me so that I would return to her at the end of the quest. She worries. She thinks I'm reckless."

Celia snorted, handing the stone back. "Can't imagine why that is. It's not like you almost drowned two miles away from the Shire, or anything..."

"I wasn't the one who drowned, and it was more than two miles," Kíli protested, though his complaint lost much of its heat when his laughter accompanied it. He shook his head, returning to his previous calm state. "But that's not why I brought it up."

Okay. There was obviously a deeper meaning to that, but she didn't really have the brainpower to spare to study it when he was looking down at her like that, shyly affectionate and maybe something more. "Then why did you?" she asked, hoping her voice was steady.

Kíli rubbed his thumb across the runes before looking over at the landscape, his face darkening. "War is coming. Whether with Thranduil and Bard or an army of orcs and goblins, whether we will or no, it is coming. And none of us know what's going to happen. You and Elena may know a few flashes of what _could_ occur here and there, but not enough to predict what's going to happen everywhere."

He sighed. "My point is, we don't know what's going to happen over the next few days - weeks, even. Just that it's likely going to be bad. And... after everything, I don't want to lose you. So..." He held the stone out to her, swallowing hard. "I ask that you please take this, as a precaution in case we get separated. As a reminder to be careful, and stay safe. And should we both, Valar willing, survive this upcoming battle, you can give it back to me and make fun of me for worrying over nothing."

She stared at the proffered stone with wide eyes, then slowly lifted her eyes back to him. "But... but... your mom gave you this stone! Shouldn't you keep it for yourself?"

"The promise I made is not invalidated because I ask the same promise of another," he assured her quietly, watching her intently. "I promised my mother that I would do my best to be careful and return to her. I intend to keep that promise to the best of my abilities. Now I ask the same promise of you."

She still didn't understand, although the way her heart was beating told her that maybe her heart understood before her head. "But... why? Why not your brother? Why me?"

His cheeks pinked again, but his voice was steady when he answered her. "Fíli and I swore to each other long ago to stay by each other's side, and return whenever we left. We don't need a physical representation of our promise because we've lived it for so long. I have no such oath with you, which is why I am asking now. You are..." He seemed to struggle for words for a moment before settling on, "Someone I care deeply about, and if I can, in any way, even in my absence, protect you, I will."

Celia bit her lip, staring down at the stone he offered, and all the unspoken words that came with it. At last she looked up at him, although she had yet to take the stone. "And if I take it, what does that mean?"

Kíli studied her face. "It means that you promise to be careful, and, should we be separated, one day return to me as a fulfillment of your promise. Nothing more, nothing less. It is, however, a sign of a great bond between two souls, and not to be taken lightly," he admitted. "A promise made on a Rune Stone is witnessed by Mahal, and those who willingly undertake such a promise cannot easily go back on it."

Celia tilted her head, thinking hard as she studied the stone. Honestly, Kíli's reasoning made sense, and she would probably do much the same if she were in his position. In fact...

"I'll take the stone and make the promise, on one condition," she said at last, unable to meet his eyes just yet.

"And what's that?" he asked, sounding wary.

Taking a deep breath to fortify herself, she raised her head and looked him in the eyes. "That you promise to stay safe and return to me at the end of the battle as well."

Kíli's eyes went wide, obviously not having been expecting that. He recovered quickly though, and nodded easily. "Fair enough. I agree to your terms."

She blew out her breath, hardly able to believe her own daring. "Great. So... what do we do?" she asked uncertainly.

Kíli held out his hand once more as if to shake hers, his palm cupped underneath the stone. "Join your hand to match mine. I'll go first, so you have some idea of what to say."

Not allowing herself to double think her actions, and keeping her eyes fixed on Kíli's, she reached out and clasped his hand, the rune stone feeling cool against her palm in the middle.

"I, Kíli, Son of Dis," he recited, "do hereby swear to be cautious in battle, to protect Celia's life as if it were my own, and try my hardest to return to her alive and well at the end of battle; until death take me, or she release me."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't recall asking you to swear to protect my life as if it were your own," she stated.

He shrugged, a smile playing about his lips. "You didn't. I swore anyways. Better get used to it."

"What's to get used to?" she muttered rebelliously. "I don't see how this is any different from what day-to-day life is like already." She stuck her tongue out at Kíli when he snickered, tried to think of what she wanted to say, and straightened, her hand still in Kíli's. At the last moment, something flashed through her mind, and she smiled, suddenly sure of what she wanted to say.

"I, Celia, Daughter of Laurel, do hereby swear to be cautious in battle, to care for Kíli in peace or war, and to try my hardest to return to him alive and well at the end of battle; until death take me, or he release me."

* * *

 **A/N:** **I gave you guys a cute, fluffy, shippy chapter to make up for the wait; hope it helps. (Also, I have LITERALLY been planning this chapter for months, but it kept getting pushed off and changed, and now it's finally here). HOW ABOUT THAT ENDING, HUH? lol we're finally making progress on that slow burn.**

 **And yes. Celia did not struggle much with her chills today. There is, in fact, a reason for that. Good luck guessing it!**

 **Further note: Y'all are probably aware of this, but aside from the fact that Kíli's mother gave him the rune stone, and what it says, everything else was completely made up by me. The solemn oaths, the way they're said, their popularity, everything. NOT based in canon, please don't go looking for it in canon, you won't find it.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal,** **xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, ColdOnePaul, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing!**

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Hahaha, I'm glad that you like Laurel! Her return is imminent, let all kings beware. Yep. Both Celia and Elena will have a hard time getting down the mountain. Maybe, if they're lucky, some dwarf princes'll be nearby and help them down. ;) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Aww, thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy! :)**_

 _ **ColdOnePaul: Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying it! (And no worries about reviewing every chapter, lol. I'm just glad you like it). If everything goes to plan, there should be a reunion between said three displaced women very soon. *Thorin sweats nervously* Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :D**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Haha, I have so much planned for when Laurel and Thorin finally meet, and I'm starting to lay out plans for when the two princes and Laurel meet, so hopefully it all goes well! I'm glad you like Bilbo, lol. Whether or not his plan works has yet to be seen. Thanks for the kind wishes! (I hope it doesn't take too long to heal, but like I said, I've never gone under before, so... who knows what will happen?) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy! :)**_

 **Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia**


	71. Chapter 71 - A Paralyzing Realization

~~ Elena ~~

"How long do you think we have before he notices?" Elena asked quietly, sifting through various pieces of armor in the room. Not really knowing what to look for, she just idly shifted things around to pass the time. Fíli had brought her to the armory shortly after they woke up, insisting that they needed to arm themselves for the upcoming battle. Everything was dusty, and there were pieces of broken or rusty armor everywhere.

Even though Smaug had never entered the room, his touch had gone far.

"If the Valar have truly blessed us, he won't notice until the armies arrive," Fíli muttered, sorting through a small pile. "If it's anything like the rest of this week has been going, he'll wake up and immediately search for it, notice it's missing, and go mad." He paused. "Well. Madder. Either way, we need to get this done. We should have done it as soon as we found out what was coming. I doubt the elves will have armor that will fit any of us, and we're going to need as much help as we can get."

"Yeah, but doesn't armor change the way you fight?" Elena asked uncertainly, pulling out an armor breastplate that was at least twice the size she was. She put it back. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I know our chances of not dying increase exponentially if we wear it, but doesn't its size and weight and whatnot affect you if you're not used to wearing it?"

Fíli shrugged, pulling out a leather jerkin and holding it up to her experimentally. "It may be a little heavier than you're used to, but it's not going to make that much of a difference. It's designed to not impede your movement very much. Because, you know, the whole moving your sword or shield in a battle is _usually_ considered pretty important. I think this is about your size. Wanna try it on?"

Elena took the sleeveless vest and looked it over. "Not to sound ungrateful, but it doesn't look like it's gonna protect a whole lot," she observed dryly, raising an eyebrow at him. Gingerly navigating her left arm through the bottom of the vest and into the hole for the sleeve, she tugged it on over her head and coat, grateful that it didn't rub up against her wound and aggravate it. It was still a little big for her, but there were strings tying it together down the front that she could use to tighten it, so it at least had potential.

Fíli rolled his eyes. "It's meant to go under your armor, oh wise one. It's supposed to provide an extra bit of padding underneath your chain mail. That way if something hits the mail, there's less chance of the metal pressing into your skin. It also helps keep in some warmth, and keep the metal from touching your skin. The metal will get _cold_ , Elena. I'm speaking from personal experience here. It's not a pleasant experience when it's cold outside; although like I said, its main function is to provide additional padding and protection to your torso."

Elena tugged on the bottom of the thick vest, trying to get it to shift so that it sat more comfortably. "Well, far be it from me to argue with the guy who actually knows what he's talking about. Does this look right?" she asked, holding her arms out from her side for him to see.

Fíli stepped back and studied her critically. "It's a bit looser than it should be. You want it to be tight so that it's not constantly shifting. It'd be a distraction, and could even affect how the rest of your armor rests on you. May I?" She nodded and he stepped forward, fiddling with the strings until the vest pulled back snugly against her chest. "Is that comfortable? I don't want to pull it too tight either and cause pain."

Elena nodded easily, shifting the vest again as he stepped back. "It's fine, thanks. So what's next? Chain mail, I suppose?"

Fíli nodded, bending over and searching through more piles in the armory. "If I could, I'd get us all mithril armor. Bilbo actually has one, I think. Unc - Thorin gave it to him last night, but I don't know if there are any more around. I know there definitely used to be mithril here. It could only be mined in Moria, but there were great amounts of it brought here before Moria, and then Erebor, fell. Both the raw ore, and whatever ornaments or armor was fashioned out of it."

Elena reached under her shirt and pulled out her locket, watching the light reflect off it. "But it's incredibly precious, right? Because it's so rare and so strong? So how do you think my parents got ahold of it, especially if they were only minor nobility?"

Fíli shrugged, tugging his owner leather vest on and adjusting it to a better fit. "Hard to say. It might have been an heirloom from your female ancestors that was remade for you and your sister. Or possibly they had other mithril pieces that they melted down and refashioned. Or... maybe it was a gift."

"A gift?" Elena repeated, puzzled. "But from whom? And why? I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the thought, but... that's kind of an expensive gift to give someone. Like, really expensive."

Fíli shrugged again, setting a few broken helmets gently off to the side. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I don't know much about your family history, so I can't say one way or another." He pulled out a chain mail shirt, held it up to himself experimentally, frowned when he noticed several large rents in it, and set it off to the side and went back to searching.

Elena tucked her locket back under her shirt with a sigh. "Is there some sort of magic involved, that it can never be taken off without the right password, or whatever, or... I don't know. How do they make it so that it can't be taken off if you're not the right person, but it also extends the chain so that you're not strangled when you get bigger?"

Fíli laughed. "No, there's no magic involved, but don't go passing that around to outsiders. I don't know entirely how it works, but I believe it's designed to work so that, once it's clasped around an infant's neck, there are tiny gears inside the clasp that slowly turn over time. Very slowly, in fact, so that the times that they fully revolve coincide with the usual growth rates of our children. It very slowly lets out the chain so that, essentially, it grows with you."

He held up a hand in caution. "However, that is the very basic explanation of how it works, and I'm not even sure that it's entirely accurate. That's my best understanding of it, but it requires a _very_ skilled craftsman to make, and they don't reveal the secrets of crafting them even to dwarrow until they become a father to a little girl."

Elena let out a low whistle. "You guys really don't mess around when it comes to privacy and security, do you?"

Fíli raised his head from his search and gave her a deadpan expression. "Whatever gave you that idea? Was it the way most of our females pretend to be males when they have to travel on the road for their protection? How every single dwarf in this Company has done their best to watch out for you even when we didn't know you that well and you made it such a challenge?"

She huffed, jutting out her lower lip in offense. "You say that like _we're_ the ones who decided to go on a quest against the biggest dragon in Middle Earth with thirteen dwarves and a wizard who has a history of wandering off."

Fíli cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.

Elena scrunched up her nose and shut her eyes with a sigh. "You know what I meant."

"No, really." Fíli leaned his elbows on his legs, rested his face in his hands, and leaned forward expectantly, expression innocent. "Please do expound on how foolish it was for someone to go on this quest. How little chance of success we all knew there was. What we knew we would likely face on the way. What kind of reckless person would willingly agree - no, _ask_ to go on such a journey?"

"No one likes a smart aleck, Fíli," Elena said with a long-suffering air.

"Really?" he exclaimed, as if that were news to him. "But then how does that work? I like _you_." He grinned cheekily when Elena blushed.

She turned away, trying to hide her burning cheeks. "Dork. Let's just find the chain mail and get out of here. Thranduil and Bard'll probably be here before long."

"It would help if I wasn't the only one searching," Fíli teased.

She snorted, but returned to searching anyways. "Oh, sure. Ask the girl who knows next to nothing about armor to help search for the right armor. _Great_ plan, Fíli. This has to be up there with your plan to invade Erebor."

"Worked, didn't it?"

"We have an army on our doorstep about to wage war on us!"

He squinted at her. "How... is that my fault, exactly?"

She shrugged. "It was your plan to get us into Erebor, you're the oldest one here, who else would I blame? The four of us are probably the most responsible ones left in Erebor right now, and of the four of us, you're the oldest. Not to mention the only adult." She smiled broadly. "Welcome to adulthood."

"Only by a technicality," Fíli grumbled. "Dwarrow are able to start courting by seventy. You can get married at seventy-five, Elena. You're literally old enough to legally get married. I refuse to accept the blame for all of this. I'll drag you down with me if I have to!"

"Verbal threat! I feel threatened!"

"By what? My overpowering aura of awesomeness? Not everyone can be as majestic as me, I'll grant, but you're free to try!"

"Hey, will this work?" Elena interrupted the stream of banter to hold up a chain mail shirt that didn't look too worn down or broken. "It looks like it's about my size, or a little bigger."

Fíli frowned at the piece, looking between it and her. "I think it'll work," he said at last. "If anything, it might be too small. Chain mail is actually meant to be looser and free flowing, and it has to fit over your other clothes. If it's too loose, we can just use a rope or something to tie it a little tighter to your waist. Try it on, we'll see."

With Fíli's help, she pulled the shirt on over her head, wincing when a few strands of her hair got caught in the links. The sleeves came down just past her elbows, hanging there loosely, and the bottom of the shirt fell to the bottom of her hips, only slightly looser than the sleeves.

Fíli stepped back, looking her up and down with a critical eye. "I think it'll work. It could be a better fit, but given the time frame, and that it wasn't designed with your smaller build in mind, I think it's the best we'll get. How does it feel?"

Elena shrugged, shifting around experimentally. The chains rustled as she moved, sliding with her easily. "It doesn't feel too uncomfortable, just a little heavy." Lifting her arms, she moved them about in slow circles to test the range of motion. "I can move my arms freely without being limited, so that's good. I was a little worried about that when I saw it go past the elbows, I'll admit." Slowly lifting her arms above her head, the sleeves slid back down her arms until they hit her shoulders. She froze when it hit her, jolting in place with a frightened expression.

"Elena?" Fíli asked immediately in worry. "What is it? What's wrong? Is the mail pinching you somewhere?"

She lowered her arms back to her sides, swallowing hard. Something was roaring in her ears as her thoughts spiraled, and it took her a long moment to realize that it was her heartbeat echoing in her ears. Clenching and relaxing her hands, she took a deep breath to steady herself. She didn't know for sure that this was an issue. Maybe she'd just missed it somehow."

"Elena?"

She blinked, coming back to the present. "Sorry. Just... Hang on," she said faintly. Sliding the mail sleeve up her arm, she gingerly patted the coat over her wound, biting her lip at the result.

"Elena, seriously. What's wrong?"

She took another deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Can you help me get this shirt and the leather jerkin off? I promise I'll explain, I just want to be sure first. If I'm wrong, it's not gonna be that big of a deal. If I'm right..."

"If you're right... what?" Fíli asked impatiently, helping her out of the chain mail shirt anyways. Once she was free of that, he let if fall to the floor and tugged on the strings of her vest until they came loose and she was able to slip out of it easily. "Okay. Now what? When are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Just give me a minute," Elena snapped, feeling bad about it a moment later. "Sorry. Just... Hang on." Undoing the buttons on her coat, she slipped her arms free, mourning the temporary loss of warmth. Rolling up the sleeve on her left arm up to the bicep until her bandages were exposed, she hesitated, steeled herself, and tapped her arm just below where she knew the wound to be.

And felt nothing.

Trying to quell her rising panic, she tried it again in a different spot.

Still nothing.

Okay, time to panic.

"Okay, you look like you're about to cry. What's wrong?" Fíli demanded, refusing to be put off any longer. "What's wrong with your arm? Is the pain worse?"

She sniffed, shaking her head. "That's not - that's not the problem at all," she said weakly, her voice breaking towards the end. "Fíli - I can't - I can't feel my arm," she whimpered pitifully.

He froze, eyes going wide. "What?"

"I can't feel my arm!" she repeated, growing more hysterical. "I can still feel my hand, and move my arm around and stuff, but my entire upper arm has just gone numb, and I didn't even notice!"

"But that's not - Why -" Cutting himself off, he carefully undid her bandages, watching her for any hint of reaction and getting none besides fear when she continued to feel nothing, not even the air hitting the open wound. Both of them grimaced when the last strip fell away.

The burns from Smaug were fresh and weeping, as if what healing had occurred had been reversed. The cut that had started this whole mess had finally started to scab over, but it was yellowish and crusty, and still swollen with infection they could both smell. The black veins had spread further from the wound, crawling both up and down her arm through the skin reddened with infection.

Elena's stomach, already churning, threatened to return everything she'd eaten that day and the night before. "Okay. Maybe it's just a side effect from the infection. Maybe it was thrown off by the bandages or something."

Steeling herself, she tried to find a spot that wasn't damaged skin - her hands weren't clean, and she really didn't want to make things any worse than they already were - and brushed her finger against it, pushing harder when she couldn't feel anything the first time. When that didn't work, she tried another spot, then another, trying different areas higher and lower on her arm, trying to gauge how far the lack of feeling went.

Finally giving up, she turned to Fíli in despair, her eyes starting to fill with tears. "I can tell that I'm touching something with my right hand, but I don't feel anything on my arm. Not the pressure, not the pain, nothing. My upper arm is almost completely numb. It's practically to the elbow, and just shy of my shoulder!"

"Okay, just - just calm down," Fíli hushed her gently, placing a hand on her right shoulder. "One way or another, we'll be going to the elf camp tonight, and they can treat you there. Elves are highly skilled at healing, and I'm sure there are elves there who've dealt with something like this before. And look on the bright side," he tried weakly. "At least you're no longer in pain!"

She laughed shakily. "Fíli, lack of pain with an infection this serious is _never_ a good thing. Actually, it means I have to be more careful not to aggravate it, as I won't have the pain response to warn me if I'm doing something wrong." She sniffed, trying to force back the tears. "It's spreading so fast, Fíli. How long will it be before I lose feeling in my arm entirely? Before I have to lose my _arm_ to prevent the spread of further infection if we don't catch it in time?"

Fíli reached out and swept her up into a hug, and she went willingly, closing her eyes and burying her head in his chest. "That won't happen," he promised her, his own voice growing thick. "We'll get to the elves, and they can treat you and your sister, and this'll all be like a bad dream in a few days."

She shook her head, not moving from his hold. "You can't promise that, Fíli," she told him miserably. "This is already a major infection. I would be _hospitalized_ for this, back home. They'd probably be shipping me around to different doctors and hospitals for surgery and treatments for it, if any of them even worked."

He took a deep breath. "Well, if we can't dismiss the possibility entirely, we'll just do our best to keep it as an absolute last resort, and remember that it's only a _possibility_. A _possible_ outcome. Not a sure one. Just keep your chin up, El," he whispered, resting his head on top of hers. "I know this looks bad, and you're scared."

He laughed with no humor. "By Durin, Elena, _I'm_ scared. But you're strong, and I know you can fight this. If I could, I'd fight this for you. But I can't. This is gonna have to be up to you. But I know you can do this. Just don't give in to fear, Elena. That's letting them win."

Elena pulled back slightly to look up at him. He wasn't smiling. Far from it. He looked worried, deeply worried, but his eyes were honest and encouraging. "You can do this, Elena," he said again firmly, not allowing for any other option.

She allowed one of her hands to slide down until they met his, clasping it tight and relishing in the sense of security it provided when he squeezed it back. "You're right," she agreed, feeling a new sense of determination wash over her. "I can do this. I _will_ do this, whatever it takes. But..." she hesitated. "I'm probably gonna need your help. Especially if the elves don't know how to treat this."

"I'll stand by you," Fíli vowed solemnly, joining their other hands together. "As long as it takes, and forever after."

Almost unconsciously, her lips twitched up in a smile, her heart skipping a beat as the tangled knot of fear in her stomach turned to butterflies. Fíli started to smile in response to her, his lips quirking in the side smile she would refuse to say she loved.

And then Kíli ran in and the moment was ruined. "Bard and Thranduil are approaching Erebor. They're seeking another audience with Thorin!"

* * *

 **A/N: So... this chapter went in a slightly different direction than I expected... Honestly, I should be used to it by now, but... overall, I'm happy with it. It definitely got some stuff out there that needed to be said, and we've got a bit of everything (angst, fluff, cliffhanger-y ending), so... yay?**

 **NEXT CHAPTER: should be the one you've all been waiting for... I'll give you a hint: There's a very angry mama bear, and this one guy who has a bad habit of ticking off the people around him involved. Anyone got any guesses? ;)**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Omgwhyyyyy, Outofthisworldgal,** **xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, Child of Dreams, Lady Silverstar2, and Guest for reviewing!**

 _ **Omgwhyyyyy: hahahaha, whaaaat? Why would you think it's close to wedding vows? It's not like I deliberately made them close or anything... I'm glad you enjoyed it though, lol! Tbh, they gave me absolutely nothing to take home after getting my wisdom teeth out (was a little confused on that front, as literally everyone else in my family got some), but the pain has been minimal, and I've been eating yogurt and pasta for the past week lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Outofthisworldgal: Lol she really is. I've (jokingly) planned out Kíli planning on proposing to her, and she completely misses it, even though it's SO obvious that literally everyone knows what he's planning on doing. I'm glad you liked the chapter! It's probably going to be the last bit completely focused on fluff for a while as we (finally) head into the battle, and I have... *ahem* some... things... planned for after the battle that are not exactly going to encourage fluffy moments. :/ Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Hahaha, yep! Even if they're not willing to admit it yet, it's becoming pretty obvious, lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**_

 _ **Child of Dreams: I'm gonna assume you enjoyed that, then, lol. I hope so, because it's gonna be the last major bit of fluff we get for a while as we head into the battle chapters. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :)**_

 _ **Lady Silverstar2: Aww, thank you! I'm really glad you liked it! No proposals (yet) lol. Tbh, tho, Celia would probably miss if it he did propose. She's not super strong on understanding subtlety when it comes to her feelings lol. Thanks for the wishes and prayers, so far they seem to be healing well. :) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :D**_

 _ **Guest: Hahahaha, tbh I didn't even think this was gonna be a slow burn when I started writing this book, but then I got into it, and I was like - there's no way these guys are hooking up right away. It just wouldn't work, lol. I'm glad you like it though! (More slow burn to come). I update (late because I have no time management) every Wednesday night. :) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you liked it! :D**_

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia.**

 **More Specific Disclaimer: I don't know armor. Please don't go off and try and fight in a battle using armor according to what I have here. I've looked up what I could, but this is obviously not my realm of expertise. So, again. I'm probably wrong about at least some of it, so don't take it as being correct or advice on what to wear. D:**


	72. Chapter 72 - The Final Confrontation

~~ Celia ~~

Celia stood on the Gate, looking silently over the top of the rampart as Bard, Thranduil, and a small entourage approached. The goosebumps on her skin had nothing to do with the cold wind blowing through the area and cutting through the single blanket she allowed herself to wear - any more would look suspicious, she was already getting strange looks - and everything to do with the confrontation she knew was about to ensue.

She swallowed hard. Physically, she was likely to be unharmed by anyone in the Company, as only Thorin seemed to have completely forgotten himself, and she knew if he tried to attack her she doubted any of the others would fail to step in - and even if they didn't she knew the two princes and her sister would for sure.

Not to mention that shortly after watching the sunrise that morning - her cheeks colored just at the memory - Kíli had dragged her into a dusty old armory and insisted on finding her a padded leather vest and chain mail shirt to wear, as well as some leather vambraces to protect her forearms from both enemy attack and her own bow while she was shooting.

So physically, she was about as safe as she was gonna get until the battle was over.

Probably.

So why did she feel so nervous? Why was there this intense worry running through her mind over and over that this was going to go wrong?

"Stop worrying so loudly, Celia," Kíli whispered in her ear, startling her and making her jump. "That's exactly what I was talking about," he scolded her gently. "You're practically radiating guilt and worry."

She shrugged helplessly. "If you have any ideas I'm all ears. I just - I just can't stop thinking about all the ways that this could go wrong, Kíli." She shivered at a particularly bitter gust of wind, and Kíli frowned, a few strands of hair blowing into his face.

"Is it getting worse again?"

"Not as bad as it used to be," she answered honestly, although she wasn't quite ready to admit the full truth of the matter - which was that aside from a few brief occasions, she'd spent the last few days feeling like she'd crawled into the freezer and gotten stuck there. "But we need to be ready to move, and I can't be if I'm buried under a hundred blankets either. Plus, it really looks kind of weird to the others, and I don't really wanna have to explain that I got some sort of disease from a nightmare. Because I really don't see that going over too well."

"Some of the Company are more superstitious than the others," Kíli granted, glancing around. The entire Company had gathered on the rampart, all in varying stages of anticipation, and all of them, even Bilbo, though he was limited to his mithril shirt and sword, dressed for war. He lowered his voice once more, even though no one was paying attention. "Do you have everything ready?"

Celia nodded. "I've got all my stuff packed up, and hidden in my pack under this blanket, and I managed to stuff Elena's pack into mine. It was a tight fit, but I think we got all of our stuff. You?"

Kíli sighed, but nodded. "Fíli and I left our bags over by the rope down. No one's paying attention to the area, so it'll be safe there, and that way it'll be ready to go. No idea what Bilbo's done, but something tells me he'll find a way if he hasn't already."

Celia hummed, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "Oh! What about the note?"

Kíli nodded again. "Fíli wrote a note, with Elena's help, detailing the potential trap waiting for Thorin at Ravenhill. He left it in Balin's pack, with a note saying not to open it until they were preparing to leave Erebor for battle." He sighed. "I think he hopes that if they're leaving to fight Thranduil, the note will make them realize what's really going on, and to ally themselves with Bard and Thranduil. I don't know how much use it's going to be, though. Nothing else has made them change their mind so far."

Celia rested a hand on his shoulder, trying to encourage him. "Don't give up hope just yet, Kíli. You never know what will make someone change their mind until it happens."

He raised one hand to rest on hers, clasping it in his own as he stared out at the waiting army. "I still have hope," he assured her quietly. "Just... not in them. Not... not in him. Not anymore."

Her heart aching for her friend, she squeezed his hand a little tighter, smiling weakly when he looked over at her. "This probably isn't a good time to hug you, but just know that I'm hugging you in spirit," she tried, her smile becoming more real when he directed a small one of his own at her.

"Well. My spirit thanks you, my lady," he said gallantly, bobbing his head in a mock bow. "I suppose I should thank you."

She frowned - not because something was wrong, but because the way he had said that - a gleam in his eye and a slight twist of his lips - was very suspicious. "Why?"

"For lifting my spirits, of course."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That was weak, and just as bad as every other one I've heard from you, but you're clearly under pressure so I'll forgive you this one time."

He wrinkled his nose. "That's a poor spirit to have."

"Bye, Kíli."

"Rude."

"Silence!" Thorin barked, stomping to the front of the rampart, bow in hand and quiver on his back. All chatter ceased as he placed an arrow on the drawstring. "Be prepared. Don't turn your back on them. You never know when one of them may strike."

Celia scowled, but shrugged her blanket down enough that she could sling her own quiver over her shoulder, her bow resting lightly against the ledge. She turned, and came face to face with Thorin, unable to help a flinch. "Can I h-help you?" she asked uncertainly, silently cursing when she stuttered ever so slightly. Kíli stiffened beside her, but didn't turn from his position, though she could tell that he was paying close attention to every word.

His face was dark as he scanned the horizon before glaring down at the group approaching, slowly growing ever closer. "Kíli said you only knew of important events," he growled, Celia flinching again at the memory of the first time Kíli had snapped at his uncle for pressuring her for answers, and the way he had vented his frustration on a door afterwards. "I don't suppose an oncoming war would be considered important enough for a randir such as yourself to know about would it?" he asked mockingly. "Particularly considering that you knew what to happen anyways?"

She stiffened, chills racing down her spine. "I w-would think it w-was obvious th-that war is c-coming." She gestured out at the oncoming party. "Th-they're not exactly h-happy with us."

"I don't care about them," Thorin said bluntly, dark eyes boring into her, not a hint of his usual self to be seen. "But you know what is to come, in great detail. More so than you would willingly admit. I would know what is to come."

Celia shook her head, desperately wanting to flee the area, warning bells screaming in her head. "I - I d-don't -"

"Don't play games with me, Celia," Thorin warned her darkly. "I know you know of what is to come, and I know how you know. Thranduil is planning something. I need to know what it is. I need to know what's coming."

 _No, you really don't. Not yet, anyways._

Forcing the thought back down, she stammered, "I - I know th-there's a b-battle coming, but I d-don't think I can really s-say more than th-that."

Thorin's lip curled dangerously, and she unconsciously stepped backwards, heart skipping a beat as his aura darkened. Kíli didn't move from his position, but his hands were curled so tight around the ledge that his knuckles were turning white. A few yards away, Fíli looked up from his quiet conversation with Elena, concern filling both their features as they took in the situation.

"Celia." Thorin's brows lowered. "I am your king, and you swore to obey me when I agreed to take you with on this quest. I am _commanding_ you to tell me what you know."

She swallowed hard, curling her fingers into fists to hide the trembling. "And I r-respectfully refuse."

"I am your king!" he shouted, rage coloring his face.

Elena started forward, but Fíli pulled her back behind him, eyes flitting between the two of them and Kíli, who was looking dangerously close to losing his own temper.

"And out of the t-two of us, which of us has been tasked w-with keeping this knowledge s-secret?" she protested indignantly.

He scoffed. "You warned me of several attacks. Why should this be any different?"

Celia glared at him. "B-because we've already t-taken steps to do what we can, and you knowing what's g-going on will only make things worse!"

"How?"

She resolutely straightened her back, indignation giving her enough strength to snap back at him. "Because this is an extremely delicate situation right now, and if anything goes wrong, it could end in a massacre. And if that happens, the potential ramifications are massive and terrifying. So forgive me, oh mighty king," she spat, anger loosening her tongue, "if my trying to save Middle Earth causes you a slight inconvenience."

He raised his eyebrows in contemptuous disbelief. "I don't suppose you would care to explain how knowing the elf king's plans could lead to the end of Middle Earth?"

She raised her eyebrows right back at him; irritated beyond belief, cold, tired, and honestly just so done with this entire quest in general and Thorin Oakenshield in particular. "I don't suppose you could name one person in this group besides Bilbo, Elena, and myself, who doesn't have some sort of automatic prejudice against elves that may or may not cause them to overreact?" she retorted mockingly, shooting a brief apologetic glance at Kíli and his brother.

"Do not mock me, Celia," he growled menacingly. "I ask this for the good of the Company."

"And I'm refusing for the good of the Company!" she snapped. "You swore back in Bag End that you would not press us for answers because you knew it would be a foolish decision! Why are you going back on your word?"

"Because I was wrong, and I have learned from my mistakes!"

She stilled, pursing her lips as she looked at the dwarf king, eyes bright with madness and chest heaving with rage. The leader she had grown to respect and trust had all but vanished under his jewels and ornamental robes. And suddenly her anger was gone, replaced with pity for what he'd become.

She shook her head, watching him sadly. "No," she said softly. "You _are_ wrong. And if you're not ready to admit why, then there's no point in me explaining it to you. Sacrifices have to be made, Thorin. Some are just more of an annoyance than others." She turned away from him towards the edge once more, trying to end the conversation before it went any further.

He drew breath to speak once more, but was deliberately cut off by Fíli. "They're here." He cast a warning look at his uncle.

Thorin scowled, but dropped the matter, pushing past Celia to the edge and stringing an arrow on his bow. "Be ready," he bit out.

Celia closed her eyes as he brushed past her, a tiny bit of tension escaping her shoulders once his attention was no longer focused on her. She took a moment to steady herself then joined the rest of the group at the edge; although she didn't draw an arrow just yet, watching the approaching team.

Bard and Thranduil were at the head, with two hooded figures riding close behind, and a small number of elven archers riding a short distant behind them. One of the hooded figures carried a box, and Celia's eyes went straight to it, wondering if it held the Arkenstone.

Bard and Thranduil pulled ahead of their group, riding towards the blockade and approaching their side of the broken bridge that spanned the moat between them. Thorin didn't hesitate to bring up his bow and shoot an arrow in front of Bard's horse, which neighed and backed up nervously. Thranduil and Bard halted, startled eyes finding Thorin's bow, which had quickly been re-armed.

"The next one will be between your eyes," he promised.

Dwalin and Glóin started to cheer, which was quickly followed by most of the others, jeering at the elves and raising their weapons in the air.

Thranduil glared at Thorin, then turned back to his archers and inclined his head sharply. One second later found each of the elves with an arrow nocked on their bow, all aimed at a member of the Company. The jeers were quickly choked into silence as several of them dropped behind the protective wall of the ledge. After letting them simmer for a few tense seconds, Thranduil raised his hands and the elves returned to their original relaxed positions as if they had never left them.

"We are not here to fight with you, Thorin Oakenshield," Bard called up to them diplomatically. "Rather, we seek peace one last time. Are you still of the same mind?"

Thorin scoffed. "My mind does not change with the rising and setting of a few suns. Did you come to ask me idle questions? Still the elf-host has not departed as I bade! Till then you come in vain to bargain with me."

"Is there then nothing for which you would yield any of your gold?" Bard tried one last time.

Thorin looked down his nose at them, no doubt relishing the literal high ground he held. "Nothing that you or your friends have to offer."

Thranduil raised a dark eyebrow at the dwarf in smug amusement. "So be it. Before we leave, however, I would like you to know that payment of your debt has been offered... and accepted."

Thorin narrowed his eyes at the elf, who gave away nothing. "What payment? I gave you nothing! You have nothing!"

"We have this," Bard spoke up, nodding to one of the hooded figures who rode forward and stopped by them, opening the box and plucking from it a shining white jewel, reflecting the light of the sun and resplendent in its brilliance.

Everyone seemed to freeze as Thorin's hands flew to his coat, patting down the inside and growing more enraged by the second. At last he spoke, his voice thick with anger. "That stone was my father's, and his father's before him, and now it belongs to me. It is the king's stone. How came you by the heirloom of my house? If indeed, there is need to ask such a question of thieves!"

"Except we are not thieves," Bard retorted calmly. "Your own we will give back for our own. The king may have it in our good will." He nodded to the hooded figure, and the Arkenstone was placed back in the box, and the lid shut tight. "But first he must honor his word."

Thorin shook his head. "No. It is only another of your tricks to steal our hard-earned gold. I will not fall for such treachery!"

"It - it's no trick." Bilbo's timid voice parted the dwarves like magic as he stepped forward, clearly nervous but refusing to back down. "The stone is real. I gave it to them."

Instant silence. Celia shifted her grip on her bow, making sure it was secure. Then, reconsidering, she slung it onto her shoulder, figuring she would be needing both her hands for a quick getaway very soon as Thorin's face went from shock to betrayal to sadness to anger in the span of a heartbeat.

"You... did what?" he said slowly.

"I took it as my fourteenth share," Bilbo said, trying to stand firm, but unable to keep his fingers from twitching ever so slightly.

"You would steal from me?" Thorin asked him, as if uncomprehending.

"Steal from you? No." Bilbo shook his head."No. I may be a burglar, but I like to think I'm an honest one. I'm willing to let it stand against my claim."

Thorin's face twisted again. "Against your claim? Your claim! You have no claim over me you miserable rat! You undersized burglar!" He threw down his bow and strode towards Bilbo, who tried not to show his fear, but was visibly trembling."

Celia looked at Kíli, who nodded once, crouching slightly, as if ready to pounce should Thorin resort to violence. Neither of them thought he'd actually be able to attack Thorin if it came down to it, but Kíli had hoped to at least be able to protect Bilbo from any attacks.

"I didn't want to," Bilbo tried to explain. "Heaven knows that I didn't want to. But..."

"But what, you thief?" Thorin spat.

Bilbo blinked, his own expression twisting. "You are changed, Thorin! The dwarf I met in Bag End would never have gone back on his word! Would never have doubted the loyalty of his kin!"

"Do not speak to me of loyalty, wretch!" Thorin ground out, spinning from him and turning on the others. "Throw him from the rampart!"

Bilbo stared at him in shock and horror, while the rest of the Company, rather than obeying, stepped away from Bilbo rather than do what he said.

Poor Thorin looked surprised that no one wanted to help him carry out his murder of an innocent hobbit.

"Do you hear me?" he shouted. He gripped Fíli's arm, but Fíli immediately shook him off, staring at his uncle in horrified betrayal. "Fine. I'll do it myself."

Celia found her voice and stepped forward. "Then you'll have to throw me off with him."

He spun around to look at her. "What."

She swallowed hard, but kept her head high and her voice proud. "Then you'll have to throw me off with him," she repeated clearly. "I helped him steal it."

"So did I," Elena spoke up from beside Fíli, smirking as Thorin swung on her, clearly trying to keep up with things. "I helped him plan how to do it."

"I kept watch as he took it and left for Dale, and asked for Mahal's blessing upon him," Kíli said suddenly, keeping his voice flat and his face expressionless.

Thorin sucked in a breath, betrayal written across his face for all to see. "Kíli..."

"And I was the one to suggest the idea to him, knowing that it would be easiest for him to do," Fíli said at last, his words hanging in the air long after he had finished speaking. He cast his uncle a scathing look. "You can't tell me you're surprised. You raised Kíli and I to act when we saw wrong being done, not to sit idly by."

Thorin, still looking like someone had punched him in the stomach, scowled. "I raised you to be king in my stead. To honor everything that being king means!"

Fíli shook his head, face twisted. "You raised me to respect loyalty and honor, to keep my word and not do ill to others. I learned what a good king was like from your actions, not your words. Thorin... Uncle," he pleaded, "I am honoring everything you taught me. Why aren't you?"

Thorin staggered back a step, clearly fighting some internal battle before his eyes fell on Elena. His face twisted back into rage. "You!" Turning on her and Celia, he spat, "You've seduced my nephews into joining your madness!"

"With what? My awkwardness?" Celia retorted sarcastically, moderately offended, lifting the blanket that had been loosely wrapped around her lower arms and flapping it in the air like a bird. "Ooh, I know! Maybe it's my inability to walk up a flight of stairs without falling down at least once! Or maybe it's how grumpy I am in the mornings!" She leveled him with a flat look. "Seriously, dude. Have some respect."

Okay, maybe she'd pushed it a little too far there, because he was radiating a seriously dark aura now. "You. You were the one to start it all," he sad lowly, stalking towards her.

She stepped back nervously, trying not to get too close to the edge. "Uh... no? It was kind of a group decision. Everyone could see it, not just me!"

"But you were the one to instigate it, you were the one who started to turn Kíli, my own nephew, against me!" he accused, pushing her closer and closer to the edge. Elena, Fíli and Kíli were trying to intervene, but several of the dwarves were holding them back, claiming they were trying to avoid bloodshed by kin, and Dwalin was trying to pull Thorin back, though he shook him off, still advancing on her. "It's all your fault!"

He raised a hand - to do what, she didn't know, although she shrunk back from him, more afraid of the dwarf king than she had ever been before. Kíli redoubled his efforts to get free, while Elena was threatening murder if he did anything - and an arrow whistled inches past his nose in front of his face, slamming into the ground a few yards beyond them.

Everyone whipped their heads around to the source, only to find the second hooded figure lowering their bow, another arrow already nocked. Their voice was low as they spoke, but every word was as threatening as the arrow still quivering in the ground.

" _Step away from my daughter before you lose a hand_." They reached up to their head and tugged down the hood, letting a stream of golden hair tumble forth from underneath a delicate crown down the sides of a feminine face with regal bearing and a very, very dangerous expression.

She smirked coldly, lifting her next arrow until it was aimed directly at Thorin's heart. "Hi. The name's Laurel Owens, Queen of Mirkwood. Better known as the protective mother of some amazing children. You've taken my daughters under your protection while on this quest yet repeatedly failed to protect them; endangered them, pushed them for answers to questions you'd sworn not to ask, blamed them for matters entirely out of their hands, and now directly threatened my baby's life right in front of me. Give me _one_ good reason I shouldn't kill you where you stand."

* * *

 **A/N: I am totally a mature, responsible adult who definitely got this chapter finished super early** **as soon as I got off work. (Lies. All lies. I still spend my money on overpriced chocolate milk and cry over children's cartoons. I don't think I could adult if I tried).**

 **Alternative Chapter Titles Considered for this Chapter:**

 **It Was Then That Thorin Knew He Was Screwed**

 **Laurel v. Thorin, final score 2,000,000 to 0**

 **You Get a Betrayal, and You Get a Betrayal, EVERYONE Gets a Betrayal!**

 **In Which Thorin Antagonizes a Grizzly Bear and Might Not Live to Regret It**

 **How to Lose Friends and Meet an Untimely Demise**

 **So. It's finally here. The moment we've all been waiting for... WHO'S READY FOR THIS BECAUSE I'M NOT.**

 **Anyways, thank you all so much for favoriting and following, and shout-out to Tibblets, Outofthisworldgal, Child of Dreams, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, Omgwhyyyyy, MissCallaLilly, and Lady Silverstar2 for reviewing! I don't have time to do replies tonight, so I'll either edit them in this weekend, or hopefully be able to PM y'all later. (I swear, my PM system hates me)**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: What? I'm totally the guy who wrote the Hobbit. It absolutely belongs to me. Why do I need to write a disclaimer saying that I didn't? o.O**


	73. Chapter 73 - The Breaking of Bonds

It had been some time since the entire Company had agreed on anything, but right now the unanimous response seemed to be shock as they all stared down at the furious elleth on a horse.

"M-Mom?" Elena stammered, tears pricking her eyes as she shook off the hands holding her back and ran to the edge of the Lookout. "Are - are you really here?"

Laurel took her eyes off of Thorin for one second, her glare transforming to a tremulous smile as soon as she saw her daughter. "I'm here, Elena," she assured her softly. "And I'm never leaving you again, I promise." Her gaze flickered to her other daughter, frowning when she saw her noticeably trembling. "Celia? Are you all right?"

Her sister's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a minute, eventually just giving up and shaking her head, face screwed up and looking very much like she wanted to cry. Kíli wrenched free from the dwarves holding him back and ran to her, tugging her back out of reach of Thorin and picking up her blanket, wrapping it around her. She accepted it numbly, leaning against him when he wrapped an arm around her.

"That's your mother?" Fíli whispered, coming up beside her and staring at the woman in shock and awe.

Elena nodded slowly.

Laurel turned back to Thorin, all kindness leaving her expression replaced only by righteous fury. "Thorin Oakenshield, Son of Thrain, Son of Thror, and King under the Mountain. I was lost long before you were born, and was found only a short while ago. All accounts tell of you as a noble, if stubborn, king who looks out for his people. Yet I see only a madman who threatens the defenseless and innocent and breaks his sworn word. What say you?"

Thorin shook himself out of his shock, sending his own burning glare at the woman, though she only matched it in fury. "What say I?" he repeated in growing indignation. "You would trespass in my realm, threaten me for defending my own, and seek to take that which belongs to me? You are lucky I have not already struck you down where you stand!"

The elves in the group stirred in their ranks menacingly, and even Thranduil made to draw his weapon at the threat to his wife - and okay, wow, Elena's brain only just now made the connection that her mom was actually married to the King of Mirkwood. Her mom looked unfazed, holding up a hand to keep the archers from doing anything.

"You deny any wrongdoing then, Thorin, Son of Thrain, Son of Thror, King under the Mountain?" she asked coolly, and Elena felt goosebumps rise on her arms. Her mom was scary enough when she was loudly angry. But it was when she got quiet that things really got serious.

"I am King!" Thorin roared. "I can do no wrong!"

"Wrong!" Laurel snapped. "You of all people should know that we as leaders of our people are held to higher accountability than the rest because of our power! Our people look to us to set an example, and right now you're not setting a very good one!"

Thorin scowled down at her. "Count yourself blessed that I am feeling merciful and do not immediately call you to task for your foolish accusations. A lesser king would already have cast sentence."

"And a better king would have never given me reason to accuse him of mistreating my daughters," Laurel fired back immediately. "Has the line of Durin fallen so far that you would threaten my daughters - neither of whom are yet of age, might I add, for trying to save lives?"

Fíli tensed beside her. Elena glanced over at him apologetically, but he shook his head. "Not here," he whispered, placing his hand on her back and subtly pushing her towards the rope that lead down the mountain. "We should get out of reach while he's distracted."

"They have betrayed me and my kin," Thorin growled, "and bewitched my nephews over to their way of thinking. I have every right as king to question them!"

"And I'm their mother!" Laurel snarled, looking as if she would like nothing more than to let her arrow loose at Thorin. "I raised them from childhood, and the right - the _duty_ \- to protect their children has been granted precedence to parents since life was first created."

She raised her bow once more, shifting the arrow until it was aimed at him and drawing back the string. Though they looked alarmed, none of the other dwarves reacted in kind, or even moved, hardly daring to breathe as the confrontation went on.

"So tell me, Thorin Oakenshield, and choose your answer carefully. Are you really so concerned with your gold that you would dare claim that your precious gold has more rights than my living, breathing, _infinitely_ more valuable daughters?" Her eyes, blazing with fury, focused on him, daring him to say otherwise.

He dared.

"I was not aware that a treacherous pointy-eared _elf_ ," he spat the word, "such as yourself would know how to care for those not of your blood, if indeed you even know what love is in the first place." He scoffed. "Although the actions of these traitors is in keeping with one raised by the wife of the Oathbreaker. None of you have any honor!"

Fíli reacted in a heartbeat, clamping his hand over Elena's mouth and wrestling her over to the rope as she tried in vain to lunge for Thorin. "Elena, I'm sorry, I'm furious too, but we _cannot_ do this here," he hissed in her ear. "Please, just focus on getting out of here, and you can plot revenge later!" She stood tensely in his arms for a minute, fingers tightly curled into fists as she struggled to get control of herself before slumping against him. "Thank you. I'm so sorry," he whispered as he prepared his pack.

Laurel cast Thorin a steely-eyed glare, once more raising a hand to keep her husband from violence. "I would have thought that you, of all people, would know how much you can love children not directly yours." Her sad eyes landed first on Kíli, still standing with Celia, then Fíli, getting ready to leave, before returning to Thorin. "It appears that I was wrong about that as well."

Fíli flinched before deliberately removing all emotion from his face, turning his face aside when Thorin turned to him and clutching Elena's hand for support.

Thorin's eyes fell on their joined hands, and he scowled, ire returning. "Your daughters have misled my nephews into turning their back on their heritage!"

"If my heritage is to be one with no love or friends and filled only with gold, then I don't want it," Fíli said softly, hand reaching up to the braid Elena knew marked him to be a prince and heir to the throne.

Thorin's eyes went wide as a gasp went around the Company. "Fíli, no..."

Fíli tugged the braid loose, letting the strands fall free and blend into the rest of his hair. His eyes filling with tears that he strained to keep from falling, he met Thorin's eyes. "I do not turn my back on my uncle or my friends. But until such time as he returns to himself, I refuse to have any more part in this. I will not stand by idly and allow such things to happen in the name of my heritage."

Thorin swung on his other nephew, imploring him. "Kíli, there's still a chance for you to avoid this madness. Please, think about what you're doing."

Kíli, who had been watching the proceedings in shock, took a deep breath before swallowing hard. "I swore long ago to always stand with my brother. I have yet to willingly break my word and I will not start now." His breathing becoming shaky as he too fought off tears, he tugged his own braid free.

"Kíli..."

He shook his head wearily. "Don't. Please. If there's anything of you left in there, please, just... let me go in peace. Let _us_ go."

Thorin actually seemed to have been genuinely affected, stepping back and watching in shocked silence as Kíli and Celia joined Elena and Fíli by the rope, grabbing their packs and sheathing their weapons. Bilbo silently made his way over to join them, and he finally reacted.

"What are you doing?" he asked, voice thick.

Bilbo raised his eyebrows at him. "I'm hardly going to be allowed to stay here now that I've forced you to at least pretend you're going to keep your word. I'm getting ready to leave. I shan't bother you again, more than likely."

Thorin's nostrils flared as he seemed to struggled with himself. At last his eyes fell on their bags, and his brow furrowed. "Your bags were already prepared," he murmured, and they all tensed. "You knew what was coming," he said in slow realization and growing anger. "You refused to tell me your secrets because you claimed Middle Earth was in danger, and yet you tell this descendant of rats how to betray us to our enemies?"

"The only enemies you have here are the ones you made for yourself, Thorin Oakenshield!" The remaining hooded figure, who had remained silent thus far, rode forward and flung back his hood to reveal Gandalf, looking at Thorin with a disappointed expression. "You're not making a very splendid figure as King under the Mountain, are you?"

"You are all in league!" Thorin snarled, turning to the small group that huddled by the rope. "Cursed be the wizard that brought you here. Never again will I have dealings with wizards or their friends." He curled his lip, though he noticeably kept his glower on the twins and Bilbo, and avoided Fíli and Kíli's gaze. "You are no friends of Erebor, nor are you welcome here. Be gone, and may we never meet again!"

"So be it," Fíli murmured. "The die has been cast." He cast his glance around to the others of the Company, who were watching in varying stages of shame and pity, all of them looking down or away when his eyes met theirs. "Farewell, and may we yet meet again as friends."

"Are we resolved?" Bard called, drawing Thorin's attention from the group as Fíli crouched down for Elena to get on his back. "The return of the Arkenstone for what was promised?" Thorin didn't answer, just watched, chest heaving as Fíli began to carefully climb down the rope with Elena holding onto his back. "Give us your answer!" he demanded when Thorin failed to respond. "Will you have peace or war?"

Fíli and Elena reached the bottom, and Celia immediately started down, followed shortly thereafter by Bilbo. Kíli waited a moment longer at the top, staring pleadingly at Thorin. Despite everything, despite the anger and the broken promises and the hurt, there was still, no matter how much he tried to squash it, a little bit of hope left for his uncle.

Then Thorin resolutely turned his back on his nephew.

"I will have war!"

* * *

 **A/N: Only two dejected rays of sunshine in physical form were hurt in the making of this chapter... #oops? #sorrynotsorry**

 **Also, if it wouldn't have been wildly OOC, I felt sooo tempted to have Fíli or Kíli threaten to tell their mother, and then have that fix Thorin right up. Like, having Kíli turn right before leaving Erebor and say, "I'm telling Mom."**

 **As another side note, I know, I know Laurel didn't actually get to murder Thorin. But in her (my) defense, killing Thorin here would flat out start a war which they** _ **desperately**_ **do not need right now. Also, she has yet to find out that her daughters are seriously ill. Thorin will have more than enough to account for, and she will be taking him to task for it eventually when they're on more even footing. (Assuming Thorin survives the BoFA, he's going to have soooo much apologizing to do)**

 **This is slightly more Elena's POV than the rest, but I thought it ended up working better as a more neutral POV, and it gave me more freedom to show a few things that I couldn't normally when I was limited to just Elena, so I ended up cutting that part out.**

 **And one last thing, I know this chapter is a lot short than normal, but given the tone of the rest of the chapter, it felt right to cut it off there. (No spoilers!) Sorry about the shorter chapter, though!**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to helsdeep, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, MissCallaLilly, Outofthisworldgal, Bleeding Blue Kunoichi and Child of Dreams for reviewing! Your response has been amazing and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia (and Laurel)**


	74. Chapter 74 - Hidden Hurts

~~ Elena ~~

Celia was almost to the bottom when her grip on the rope gave way and she fell with a cry. Kíli shouted her name, but he and Bilbo were still on the rope above her, and would never have been able to reach her in time. Elena would never have been able to catch her with her injured arm, and she knew it, forced to watch helplessly as her sister fell.

Fíli, however, was more than able and leapt forward, catching Celia just before she hit the ground and dropping to his knees under the sudden impact. He lifted his head and looked her over quickly for injuries, standing up and easily lifting her with him. "Celia, are you all right? What made you fall?"

Celia curled closer into his chest, shivering violently and face paler than Elena had ever seen it. "M-my hands w-went numb," she muttered softly, holding up her hands in explanation.

Elena gasped, her own hands curling in reflexively at the sight. Celia had slid down the rope before letting go, the rough fibers of the rope tearing her palms and fingers and leaving them raw and bloody.

Bilbo and Kíli reached the ground at last, Kíli simply letting go and dropping the last few yards to the ground. Not skipping a beat, he charged over to his brother and the girls, holding out his arms. Fíli carefully transferred Celia over to him without question, and Celia curled into Kíli, instinctively seeking his warmth.

"Celia, are you all right?" he asked frantically, the others crowding around them.

She almost didn't respond at first, eyes half-lidded and blinking sleepily. When Kíli repeated his question, she roused herself somewhat, her shivering decreasing - although somehow Elena didn't think that this was a good thing.

"'M just cold," she murmured. "My hands got so cold they went numb. Couldn't hold on. Sorry."

Kíli swore under his breath, looking angry at himself. "No, Celia, don't - that's not your fault, you couldn't help it. I should have gone with you. I never should have let you go down by yourself, I knew you were having trouble." He looked up at the others helplessly. "She's so cold."

Elena bit her lip, looking over at the party from Dale. They were watching their little huddle with worried expressions, and her mother looked a second away from charging over to them. "Well, we were gonna go to the elves anyway, they should be able to help, right?"

"We don't have a choice anymore," Kíli said grimly, glancing over the group. He cast a glance upwards, and Elena followed his gaze to see Bofur and Balin and a few of the other dwarves looking down at them worriedly. He nodded once in farewell, then set off for the party from Dale.

"May Mahal be with you all," Balin called after them.

Fíli lifted a hand, but didn't look back.

None of them did.

Laurel and the others had dismounted by the time Elena's group reached them, and she was clearly restraining herself from charging forward.

Elena didn't bother with such niceties, and ran forward as soon as they got close enough for it to not be embarrassingly long, unashamed of the tears running down her face. "Mom!"

Laurel's forced calm broke, and she met her daughter halfway, kneeling down and sweeping her into a tight hug. "Elena! Oh, thank the Valar! I was so afraid I was never going to see you again!"

Elena buried her face in her mother's neck, sobs ripping through her as she lost control. "Me too. Oh, Mom, I was so scared! I didn't know what was going on, and then we found out we were here, and then we went on the quest, and then we almost died so many times, and there was the dragon, and Celia and I got hurt, and Thorin got sick, and, and, and -!" She cut herself off before her rambling could devolve any further into nonsense, tightening her hold on her mom as best as she could with one arm.

Laurel stroked her hair soothingly just like she used to when Elena was little and would cry into her shoulder about whatever little thing had been bothering her that week. "I know. You've been so brave, Elena, and I'm so proud of you," she whispered. "But you don't have to be brave anymore. I'm here, and I swear I'll be here for you as long as I live.

Elena sniffed, pushing back from her mom to swallow down another sob and wipe her eyes, trying futilely to scrub away the tracks that had dried in the cold wind and were now starting to itch. "I know. I know," she muttered, casting an embarrassed glance at Fíli and the others, who had politely turned aside while she cried. "Sorry. I didn't mean to start crying."

"There is no shame in tears, Elena Owens," Gandalf informed her, striding over to clasp a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You have been separated from all that you knew for more than two years, now, and have only just been reunited with your mother. Do not begrudge yourself an honest expression of your love. I daresay any one of us would cry if presented with the same circumstances, and it would be only right that we do so."

"Indeed," Thranduil called, stroking his horse with a bored expression. "I am not ashamed to admit that I shed many tears when reunited with my wife, who I had feared lost forever." He cast her a searching glance, though kindness softened his face. "There is no shame in a happy reunion, only in finding it shameful."

"My husband is right, for once," Laurel nodded, giving him a wicked smirk when he uttered a noise of protest, and not making any effort to hide the tears on her own face. "But that is a subject I think we'll need to return to later. Mister Baggins informed us that you and your sister were grievously hurt. We need to get you looked after."

Elena paused, but nodded. "Óin - our healer - said he couldn't do anything else to help us. We don't really know how it happened, but we're both..." she hesitated. "Not doing well."

Fíli snorted, appearing by her side suddenly and making her jump. "That's putting it lightly. You were struggling to breathe yesterday, and it's only gotten worse from there." He looked up at Laurel and bowed courteously. "Fíli, Son of Dis, at your service."

A slow smile spread across her mother's face, and Elena felt her heart sink into her stomach for an entirely different reason as she bowed in return. "Aredhel Telessiel, at yours. I suppose I have you to thank for keeping my daughter alive so far?"

Fíli smirked at the dangerous look Elena sent him. "Well, I've tried my best, Your Majesty, but she's definitely made it difficult."

Laurel looked him up and down in consideration, nodding in approval before turning to her daughter, cheerfully ignoring her silent pleas to stop. "I like him. Thranduil, can we keep him?"

"Two dwarrow children are enough for me, I think," Thranduil called back to her placidly. "In addition, not only does he already have a family; but if you adopt him, he'll never become your son-in-law."

Laurel frowned in thought, eventually nodding in reluctant agreement and ignoring Fíli and Elena's sputtered replies, both bright red and refusing to look at the other. "Fine. When you're right, you're right, no matter how rare the occurrence may be.."

"Funny."

"I certainly thought it was," she dimpled. Eyes twinkling merrily, she turned back to her daughter. "Okay, I've had my fun. Thank you, Master Fíli, for looking out for my daughter when I could not. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check up on my other daughter."

Not waiting for a reply, she hurried off to Bilbo and Kíli, who was still carrying Celia and looking more nervous the closer she got. After a hasty introduction - where Laurel again expressed her amused approval of a blushing Kíli, and expressed her thanks to both him and Bilbo, she bent over Celia, brushing a hand over her forehead. Her expression changed to consternation at the temperature, and grew increasingly worried as Kíli offered up a hasty explanation, brushing over the details while they were out in the open.

"We don't have enough horses for you to ride back separately," she announced, returning to the center of the group. "But Celia is in immediate need of medical attention, and if I know my daughters, Elena is as well, she just isn't admitting it." She cast a stern look at Elena, who rolled her eyes and didn't say anything. "You'll have to ride back with us. Celia will ride with me, Elena will ride with Thranduil, and Masters Fíli, Kíli, and Baggins will most likely have to ride with our guards, if that's all right."

Fíli exchanged a look with his brother, but nodded. "We will gratefully accept. Thank you for your kindness."

Gandalf, watching the two brothers with an amused expression, leaned over and exchanged a whispered conversation with Bard, who nodded. Raising his voice, he called out, "I can take Kíli with me, and Bard has been so good as to agree to take Fíli with him. If he so agrees, Mister Baggins can ride with one of the guards. I daresay that this may be a more agreeable arrangement for all involved."

It was almost amusing how hastily everyone nodded. Without further preamble, Laurel mounted her horse and took Celia from a worried Kíli, promising him something in a low voice. He nodded once, and she raised her voice in farewell, cast a loving glance to Elena, and took off for Dale at a gallop.

Thranduil watched her go with a considering expression, then turned to Elena, who was watching him hesitantly. Rather than offering up some snarky comment like she had expected, his tone was kind when he spoke. "Are you comfortable riding with me?" he asked. "I will be able to get you to Dale shortly after your sister, but if you do not feel comfortable riding with me, you can ride with one of my guards instead."

Elena shook her head, feeling oddly drained, as if the tears she had shed had been filled with all her emotions. "As long as you don't drop me, I'm fine with it."

He studied her, as if searching for any hint of lie in her expression, then nodded once. "Good." Without waiting for her to respond, he turned and strode back to his horse.

Elena looked over at Fíli, who was watching Thranduil go with an unreadable expression. "I guess I'll see you in Dale?"

He blinked, as if realizing that she were there for the first time, then nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly. "See you there."

Elena frowned at him, looking closer and seeing the hints of red around his pain-filled eyes, the lost expression he was trying to hide. She sucked in a breath, his earlier actions finally sinking in.

Fíli had basically disowned himself and turned his back on something he had spent his whole life preparing for. A large part of his identity had just been thrown away, and he was floundering, trying desperately to cover up the gaping hole.

Impulsively, she darted forward and hugged him, wrapping her arms around him as best as she could. He flinched at first, startled, then returned the hug tightly, burying his head in her shoulder.

"Oh, Fíli," she mourned quietly, wishing they were alone. As much as they had respected her tears earlier, and claimed that there was no shame in letting them fall, she knew Fíli would maintain his shields as long as there were strangers - or elves - around. He tightened his arms one last time, then stepped back, trying to discreetly wipe his eyes. "I'll be waiting for you in Dale," she promised, waiting until he met her gaze.

He nodded. "I'll hold you to that," he muttered, voice slightly thicker than normal.

She smiled weakly. "You better." Casting him one last, concerned glance, she made her way to Thranduil, who had been patiently waiting on his horse. Kneeling it down so she could mount, she carefully clambered on behind him with one hand, gingerly grabbing onto his robe with her good hand to hold on once she was up.

"You will need a more secure hold than that if we are to make haste, Lady Elena," Thranduil informed her neutrally.

She flushed. "Sorry. Didn't want to presume." Leaning forward, she awkwardly wrapped her good arm around his waist and lifted her left arm to wrap loosely around him, only to blanch and drop her arm when her hand brushed against the fabric.

He, of course, noticed that something was wrong immediately. "Lady Elena, is everything all right?"

Trying to clench her hand into a fist and failing, she felt more than saw Fíli pause as he was walking by to Bard's horse. Looking at him and speaking to him more than Thranduil, she whispered in a frightened voice, "I can't feel my hand. My whole arm has gone numb."

Thranduil stiffened, and for a moment she wondered if she had offended him somehow, then he dismounted and whipped around to face her in one smooth movement. Making a motion for the horse to kneel, he scanned her. "Where is the source of your hurt?" he asked in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Left arm, upper bicep," Fíli answered before she could. She glared at him, and he just raised his eyebrows in challenge. She saw the stress carved into his features and dropped the issue, but made a mental note to smack him once he was no longer in distress.

And, you know, she had feeling in her arm again.

"Lady Elena, if I may see your arm?" Thranduil interrupted. "This is a grave matter if it is what I suspect it to be."

"It's probably worse," she informed him with a feigned nonchalance, rolling up her left sleeve to her shoulder and trying to keep her lip from quivering when she felt none of it.

Thranduil unrolled the bandages with her permission, only to jerk back as if she had struck him when her wound was revealed, the foul stench of infection filling the air, and the bright red sheen of skin crisscrossed by the ominous black veins creeping down her arm past her elbow.

"What foul creature caused this?" he cried. When Elena hesitated, he glared at her in rebuke, although it was nothing like the scathing ones he often sent Thorin's way. "Lady Elena, this is not the time for secrets. We are all enemies of darkness here, and your life is in danger if we do not treat this immediately."

"The answer to that question has more repercussions than you think, nor is it safe to discuss them out in the open like this," Elena muttered. "The sooner we get going, the quicker we get there, and the quicker I can answer your questions."

"She's right," Fíli stepped in. "I know what did this, and if she doesn't or can't tell you once you get to Dale, I'll tell you. But she's right. This isn't the right time or place to discuss such matters." He paused. "But Gandalf should also be present. He will need to know."

"Given the state of her arm, and her sister's condition, it is likely that Gandalf's aid will already be needed," Thranduil muttered brusquely, though he appeared - she couldn't feel it - to be gentle when he rebandaged her arm and tugged down her sleeve. "Lady Elena, given our need for haste, and your inability to securely hold on, I will ask that you move to the front of the horse. I will need to hold onto you as we go."

Elena nodded, hastily scooting forward as Thranduil mounted where she had just been sitting. Clicking his tongue, the horse rose to its feet. Looking down at Fíli, his expression grave, Thranduil nodded respectfully.

"I do not expect that my word means much to you, but be that as it may, I still give you my word that I will keep her safe as much as I am able, and deliver her to the healers as fast as I can get her there." He paused before smirking. "And if you doubt me, do not doubt my wife. She would have my head if her daughter were to come to further harm under my care."

Fíli's lips lifted in what might have been a smile. "That makes me feel a little better," he admitted.

Thranduil snorted. "I do not doubt it. Rest easy, Son of Dis. I will bring your lady safely to Dale, and you will be reunited shortly if all goes well." Placing his arms around a furiously blushing Elena, he grabbed the reins and tapped his heels into the horse's sides, setting them off at a quick gallop to Dale.

Elena twisted around to look back, and saw Fíli raising his hand in farewell before heading to Bard, quickly mounting on the horse before their figures dwindled in the distance.

They quickly settled into a steady canter, and Elena eventually relaxed enough to stop jumping every time she felt Thranduil accidentally jostle her when the horse moved. Her thoughts seemed to alternate between racing like the horse they were riding, or slowing as if trudging through molasses, and never settled long enough for her to focus on any one thought.

After what seemed like forever, but was probably more like an hour, the distant shapes of Dale's ruins and the tents of the army began to grow larger and clearer, until she could make out figures running on their errands.

Thranduil didn't stop as they entered the camp until they came to a green tent in the middle of the camp. Swinging off the horse, he helped her dismount once it had knelt, and then led the way into the tent. It was fairly large, and had cots set up throughout, with a table covered with vials and containers at one end, and several curtained off areas by the back.

Leading Elena to one of the curtained off areas, Thranduil nodded his head towards the bed, then stopped one of the elvish healers passing through, directing them to find the chief healer as well as the queen, and inform them of their arrival.

"Rest assured, you will be given a private tent with or close to your sister where we can speak in privacy," Thranduil assured her once she had sat down on the bed. "However, until I am informed of where your sister has been taken and the healer has come in to examine you, we will remain here."

Elena nodded, tucking her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, wincing each time she failed to get sensation from her left arm. Resting her head on her knees, she tried not to think of the forlorn expressions she had seen on Fíli and Kíli's face as she left. She knew they would catch up with them eventually, but she also knew that the two brothers were hurting in a way that no healer, no matter how skilled, would be able to treat.

Sometimes the hardest wounds to heal were the ones you couldn't see.

* * *

 **A/N: In which Laurel is reunited with her daughters and wastes absolutely no time in making up for all the years she was unable to embarrass her daughters in front of their crushes. Oh, and Thranduil joins in, although whether it's intentional or not is yet to be seen. ;)**

 **Oh, and Fíli and Kíli are sad, and need hugs. If only there was someone out there to give one to them... ¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, Lady Silverstar2, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, Child of Dreams, and PadfootFanatic for reviewing! PMs have been sent to your account, so if you didn't get them, lmk!**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia (and Laurel)**


	75. Chapter 75 - The Waiting Game

Whenever mothers and ladies of the court had gushed about their children, or "innocently" asked when she and Thranduil were having children, they had only ever talked about the blessings, Laurel thought bitterly.

They never mentioned how hard it was to stand on the sidelines and watch helplessly as your children fought for their life against a foe you couldn't defeat for them.

Elena was currently under sedation for emergency surgery to treat her arm, but Aelthwyn, the healer, had taken Laurel aside and cautioned her that while this would take care of the infection, only Eru knew whether or not she would regain use of her arm. In the worst case scenario, she would face either losing her arm entirely, or her life.

Celia had become completely unresponsive, laying unnaturally still and pale in her bed. If one more day had passed before the elves had been able to treat her, it would have been too late and she would have died. She still might, as Aelthwyn had regretfully informed Laurel that they had been unable to find the source of her ailment, and thus had no way to cure it, only postpone the inevitable unless they found the source.

The dark circles under Celia's eyes stood out in stark contrast to her wan complexion. The long black hair she used to be so proud of lay messily spread out around her where someone had taken it out of her braid, although she noted that two dwarven braids secured with beads were neatly woven into the rest of her hair.

Reaching out a hand to smooth some of the hair back from her daughter's forehead, Laurel flinched when her fingers met cool flesh rather than the warmth she had been hoping for. Ignoring the cold, she ran her hand gently down face, noticing with dismay how thin Celia had gotten since she'd last seen her, her cheekbones prominent and brow scrunched in distress even in her unconscious state.

Running her hand down her arm until she held Celia's bandaged hand in her own, Laurel turned her attention to the boy - adult, she reminded herself firmly - who held her daughter's other hand, hunched in on himself in a mixture of guilt and concern. She could tell from his actions - as well as Elena, who took the first opportunity to pass the spotlight onto her sister - that he cared a great deal about her daughter, even when it meant risk to himself. And from what she'd heard from Elena and seen in her dreams - and even seen in Kíli's ease in taking her hand, Celia returned the affection completely, enough that he was comfortable with such an action.

Whether the two were aware that the other returned their feelings was an entirely different matter.

But then, Celia always had been a bit oblivious, to the point of accidentally friend-zoning her first crush in high school when he tried to flirt with her. She winced at the memory, silently resolving not to let what these two had end like that. She didn't think it would, given that their bond was already so strong, but a little support couldn't hurt.

And at this point, any sort of distraction would be welcome.

She took a seat in the chair opposite Kíli, keeping her face warm and inviting. He glanced up at her, distress written on his own face, though he strove valiantly to hide it. "I take it you two are close friends, then?" she asked quietly.

"Pardon?" He blinked, seeming to be struggling to take in her words before they registered, tearing his eyes from Celia's still form to focus on her. "Oh. Right. Sorry." He shook his head, as if hoping that would jolt his brain back to normal. "It's... been a long day, and I fear my mind has yet to absorb all of it."

She held up a hand, smiling gently. "Be at peace, Master Kíli. I was merely making conversation to pass the time while we wait for the healer to return. I feel much as you do, I'm sure. Worried. Anxious." Her eyes found her daughter again. "Guilty, wondering if there was something you could have done to prevent this from happening."

"What?" Kíli stared at her, startled. "But you were in another world, if I was told correctly. How could you be responsible for what happened to her? I'm the one who was with her every day, who _knew_ she was sick, and yet failed to do something about it." He shook his head. "I failed _her_."

Laurel raised an eyebrow at the self-hatred in his voice. "And yet you took her to your healer, did you not? Took care of her as best as you were able in your condition, and even brought her out of Erebor when you believed it could give her a chance at survival."

She tilted her head to the side, studying him. "Master Kíli, I've heard much about what you've done on your journey to the mountain with my daughters. You have always done what you could to ensure their safety, and I know your mother would be proud were she to know what you have done. I would be proud, were you my son, and I can never thank you enough for all you have done for my daughters"

Kíli looked away quickly at the mention of his mother, hand rising to his eyes, though he tried to pass it off as scratching an itch. She looked away politely, heart hurting when she heard him draw in a shaky breath. The confrontation on the Lookout between the three Durins earlier had been brief, but explosive, and no one had missed the hurts all three royals had received during it.

She didn't have much sympathy to spare for Thorin at the moment, however, most of it being given to his two nephews at the moment.

Maybe if he got eaten by a Balrog, she'd be upset. Mildly.

"I turned my back on my heritage and everything I was raised to become," Kíli muttered sullenly, drawing her attention back to him. "I don't think I've done anything to make anyone proud today."

Laurel regarded him steadily, waiting until he met her eyes to speak. "With all due respect, Master Kíli, anyone who doesn't respect you after what you did today does not deserve your concern. Your actions didn't come from foolish impulses or careless thought, but from courage and nobility. You turned your back on your heritage because it was being used to excuse horrible deeds, and you wanted no part of that. If your mother was the one who raised you to become the dwarf you are today, I believe she'd be more than proud."

She hesitated, choosing her next words carefully. "And if your uncle were to come back to himself, I know he would be proud as well." Kíli flinched, and she softened her tone. "Do not give up hope, Kíli Durinson. The love a person holds in their heart can do amazing things, even if they forget about it. Sometimes, they just need a gentle reminder." She eyed her quiver sitting off to the side. "Or sometimes something a little stronger."

"But can love cure sickness?" Kíli retorted without thinking, flushing and muttering an apology a moment later.

Laurel shrugged, not taking offense. "If love can cause us to do foolish things, can it not also motivate us to be better people, or to get better for others? If it can move us to give our life for another, can it not also encourage us to stay, if our passing means our loved ones would grieve?"

Kíli stilled, eyes falling to Celia and his cheeks coloring as he did so.

Laurel smiled. "Don't underestimate the power of love, Kíli. Sometimes it might seem like it's taking forever, but love - genuine, self-sacrificing love - wins out over hatred and greed every time."

* * *

 **A/N: Just for clarification, that last bit is not referring to romantic love specifically, but rather the bond of genuine affection that can form between anyone; friends, siblings, parents, lovers, etc.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to everyone who's reviewed! I can't put them all in tonight, but I will hopefully be able to do so sometime this week, and send out review replies as well, but please know that every review is appreciated!**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit, just Elena and Celia (and Laurel)**


	76. Author's Note

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that I'm going to have to take a break sooner than planned, and will not be updating for the month of April. I'm sorry I can't update like I had planned, but I can't wait to get back sometime in May, and am looking forward to seeing you all again soon!


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